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THE TRAGEDY OF POMPEY 
THE GREAT 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON . BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA. Ltd. 

TORONTO 




POMPEY THE GREAT 



THE TRAGEDY OF 

POMPEY THE GREAT 



BY 
JOHN MASEFIELD 

AUTHOR OF " THE EVERLASTING MERCY," 
" THE WIDOW IN THE BYE STREET," ETC. 



l^m flork 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1914 

AH rights reserved 






i'^l'^l 



COPTKIQHT, 1910, 

Bt JOHN MASEFIELD. 

Revised Edition 

copyriqht, 1914, 

By JOHN MASEFIELD. 

Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1914. 



FEB 12 1914 
©CLD 36002 



TO 

MY WIFE 



THE TRAGEDY OF POMPEY 
THE GREAT 



ARGUMENT 

In the years 50 and 49 b. c, Cneius Pompeius Magnus, 
the head of the patrician party, contested with C. Juhus 
Caesar, the popular leader, for supreme power in the State. 
Their jealousy led to the troubles of the Civil War, in 
which, after many battles, Cneius Pompeius Magnus was 
miserably killed. 

Act I. The determination of Pompeius to fight 
with his rival, then marching upon Rome. 

Act. II. The triumph of Pompey's generalship at 
Dyrrachium. His overthrow by the generals 
of his staff. His defeat at Pharsaha. 

Act. III. The death of that great ruler on the sea- 
shore of Pelusium in Egypt. 



PERSONS 



Antistia. 

Philip. 

A Lute-Girl. 

Cornelia. 

Julia. 

Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio. 

Cneius Pompeius Magnus (called Pompey the Great). 

Cneius Pompeius Theophanes. 

Marcus Porcius Cato. 

A Gaulish Lancer. 

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. 

CoTTA, a Centurion. 

Marcus Acilius Glabrio. 

Lucius Lucceius. 

Lucius Afranius. 

Publius Lentulus Spinther. 

A Ship-Captain. 

A Ship-Boy. 

A Mate. 

A Boatswain. 

Achillas Egyptian. 

Lucius Septimius. 

Centurions, Sentries, Soldiers, Trumpeters, Sailors. 

Scene. Time. 

Act I. Rome. January a.u.c. 705 (b.c. 60). 

Act it I ^y^^^chium. July a.u.c. 706. ,^ 

iPharsaha. August a.u.c. 70J9 (June 
B.C. 48). 
Act III. Pelusium. September a.u.c 706 (Aug. 

B.C. 48). 



THE TRAGEDY OF 

POMPEY THE GREAT 

ACT I 

A room in Pompey's house near Rome. Walls hung with 
draperies of a dark blue. Doors curtained. Balcony, 
open, showing distant lights. A gong and mallet. 
Wine, glasses, etc. Papers in a casket. Lamps. 

Horns without as troops pass. Antistia alone, lighting 
lamps with a taper. 

Antistia [looking towards the window]. More 

soldiers. Blow your horns. Spread your 

colours, ensign. Your colours' II be dust the 

sooner. Your breath will be in the wind, a 

little noise in the night. That's what you 

come to, soldiers. Dust, and a noise in the 

trees. Dust, and the window rattling. No 

more flags and horns then. [Lighting the last 

1 



2 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

lamp.] I wish I knew the rights of it. [SeU 
tling hooks on table.] I wish PhiHp would 
come. 

A Voice [without, in the balcony], Pompey. 

Antistia. What was that? 

The Voice. Pompey. 

Antistia [frightened]. Who calls Pompey? 

The Voice. Not so loud. Not so loud, 
Pompey. 

Antistia. What is it? What d^ you want 
with Pompey? 

The Voice. Philip must tell Pompey at 
once. 

Antistia. What must he tell him? 

The Voice. To stamp his foot at once. 

Antistia. To stamp his foot at once? 

The Voice [amid laughter]. Stamp your 
foot, Pompey. Aha! Ha! Pompey. 

Antistia [going to the window]. What's 
this? Who are you? 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 3 

The Voice [going]. Aha! Pompey. Stamp 

your feet, Pompey. 

Antistia [going to a door R. scared]. Philip, 

Philip. 

Philip [putting down tray]. What's the 
matter? What's happened? 

Antistia. There was a voice. A voice. 
Something at the window. Jeering Pompey. 

Philip [opening window]. Come out of that. 
There's no one there now. Was it a 
man? 

Antistia. There was no one. It had a man's 
voice. It spoke. It laughed. 

Philip. It's gone. It's gone, my dear. 
Don't. Don't. It's gone. 

Antistia. They say that the dead come back. 
To cry in the night [pause] whenever bad times 
are coming. Dead men's souls. They want 
blood. Licking. Licking blood in the night. 
Whenever Rome's in danger. 



4 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Philip. Hush. Hush. Don't talk such 
things. It gives them life. What was it 
saying? 

The Voice. Stamp your foot, Pompey. 
Stamp your foot, Pompey. 

Antistia. Ah! 

Philip [exorcising at window, with things from 
tray]. Wine for blood. [Pours wine.] Bread 
for flesh. [Breaks bread.] Salt for life. [Flings 
salt.] A cloak of blue on Rome. A net of 
gold over this house. To the desert. To the 
night without stars. To the wastes of the sea. 
To the two-forked flame. [Returning heavily.] 
God save my dear master, Pompey. I fear 
there's trouble coming. 

Antistia [hysterically]. Ah! Ah! 

Philip [pouring water]. Drink this. Drink 
this. I'll fetch another glass. 

Antistia [hysterically]. Not off that tray. 
Not off that tray. 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 5 

Philip. There. There. God save us! Why, 
Antistia, they've no power. 

Antistia. I see the marching of armies. 
Dust. Dust. That is what the trumpets mean. 
War. Civil War. Pompey and Caesar. Like 
eagles struggHng. 

Philip. No. No. Don't say that. You 
bring things to pass. 

Antistia. What else could it mean? What 
did it mean? 

Philip [distractedly]. I don't rightly know 
what it said. 

Antistia. About stamping? About Pompey 

stamping? 

Philip. Pompey said it. In the Senate 
yesterday. Reports came in. There was a 
panic. The Senators were at their wits' ends. 
News came that Caesar was marching on Rome. 
They asked Pompey if he had an army. If he 
could defend them. 



6 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Antistia. Is Caesar coming? 

Philip. It was one of these wild rumours. 

Antistia. What did Pompey say? 

Philip. He said if he stamped his foot, 
soldiers would spring up all over Italy. 
Armies of soldiers. To drive Caesar back into 
Gaul. 

Antistia. And now he must stamp his foot. 
Csesar's on the road with his army. 

Philip. It's time for the house to shake when 
the door-posts quarrel. [Pausing at distant 
tumult.] 

Antistia. They're proud ones, to set the 
world on fire so as one of them may warm his 
hands. 

Philip. Pompey's only defending the State. 
He thinks he's a great one, Caesar does, now that 
he's conquered Gaul. What are the Gauls? 
The Gauls are naked heathen, with copper 
swords like the savages. Why, Csesar would 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 7 

never have been anybody if Pompey hadn't 
backed him. 

Antistia. That's reason enough for him to 
fight Pompey now. 

Philip. Pompey made him what he is. 
Pompey got him his place in Gaul. He was 
no one before that. [Pause.] And now he 
hopes to put Pompey down. So he can rule 
Rome instead. Put my master Pompey 
down. 

Antistia. I suppose Caesar couldn't beat 
Pompey, Philip? 

Philip. Antistia. [Solemnly.] Don't you 
talk like that, Antistia. I believe wherever 
Pompey goes, there goes a god in front of him. 
Like fire. It's that makes him what he is. Oh, 
my dear beloved master. I'm that drove mad, 
I can't hardly talk of it. That he should have 
a civil war with Csesar. And him only newly 
married. 



8 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Antistia. It was a civil war that first made 
Pompey famous, Philip. 

Philip. He was with Sulla, against Marius. 
In the civil wars then. And ever since then 
he's gone on. Just as though a god went before 
him, brushing a road for him. You would see 
nothing but dangers all round. And Pompey 
would ride up. And [he blows in his hand] puff. 
They'd fade. They'd go. [Pause.] I've 
seen all Rome out on the roofs to see my master, 
Pompey. Triumph? There were horns blow- 
ing, you couldn't hear. And forty kings march- 
ing barefoot in the streets. I've seen him grow 
to be the greatest man in the world. 

Antistia. Eh? The greatest man in the 
world. And all through being with Sulla in the 
civil war. Supposing he were not great, Philip. 
Only a big clay statue. A statue propped up by 
sticks. A clay thing, gilded. Rats gnawing at 
it. The wind shaking it. The sun cracking it. 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 9 

[Pause.] And dead men, Philip. Dead men 
underneath it in the dust, fumbling at it to 
bring it down. 

Philip. Antistia. 

Antistia. Time brings all about, they say. 
You spoke of Sulla, Philip. I was a little girl 
then, when Marius and Sulla fought. My 
father was a centurion under Marius. I never 
told you that. What do you know of me, Philip, 
except that I'm to marry you? I was in the 
street outside our house, and some men came 
across the road. They patted my head and 
asked if my father was upstairs. I said yes, 
Phihp. And they went in and brought him out. 
Out to the door in the sun. Some boys gathered 
to watch. I ran up to him, Philip, to show 
him my doll. And one of the men said, 'We'll 
give you Marius.' He was behind my father. 
He swung his arm right back like this, to give 
his sword a sweep. He knocked my dada down 



10 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

with a great hack on the neck, and they all 
stabbed him as he fell. One of the men said, 
^There's your dada, little girl; run and tell 
mother.' And then one of the boys knelt down 
and stole his sandals, and another snatched my 
doll away. Time brings all about, Philip. All 
the lives spilt then by Pompey and Sulla. They 
are coming out of the night. Out of Spain. 
Out of Rome. Out of Asia. Souls have power, 
Philip, even in the darkness, when the time 
comes. 

Philip [awed\. What time? 

Antistia. Pompey's time. There. There. 
It's beginning. [Noise of a tumult. The horns 
of Soldiers,] 

Philip [at window]. Some of Rome seems to 
be burning. Pray God the Senate's safe. 
[Pause.] We shall have to put off our marriage, 
Antistia. 

Antistia. Why, thus it is. We put off and 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 11 

put off till youth's gone, and strength's gone, 
and beauty's gone. Till two dry sticks mumble 
by the fire together, wondering what there was 
in hfe, when the sap ran. 

Philip. I must be with my master, Antistia. 
Antistia. Your master. When you kiss the 
dry old hag, Philip, you'll remember these arms 
that lay wide on the bed, waiting, empty. 
Years. You'll remember this beauty. All this 
beauty. That would have borne you sons; but 
for your master. [A noise of a lute off.] Your 
mistress too, perhaps. Here she comes. Here 
comes the young wife, that will have little joy 
of her man. She with her lute girl, twanging a 
march for her. Here she comes. Open the door. 
Philip. Our mistress. 

Enter, Cornelia and Julia. The Servants 
place chairs for the ladies, 

Cornelia. That will do, Antistia. Philip, 
you may go. [Exeunt Philip and Antistia. 



12 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Julia. But tell me. What's going to happen? 
Is Csesar really going to fight your husband, or 
is it only a feint to get your husband out of 
Rome? 

Corn. I don't know what to think, Julia. 
He's a danger. He's got such power with the 
mob. He's got this army in Gaul. Of course, 
that's a very great menace. 

Julia. But what are his plans? What does he 
want? 

Corn. He wants to rule Rome. He plans to 
be elected Consul. He is lying in Gaul there, 
thinking, I think, to frighten every one into 
electing him. 

Julia. I wish you could make your husband 
put down all this rioting. [Noise without] 

Corn, [going to the window]. I wish my father 
would come in, Julia, I'm anxious. What has 
the Senate decided? [She walks up and down.] 

Julia. That Csesar must dismiss his army. 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 13 

I don't think it's anything to make you anxious. 
How is your father? What does he think? 

Corn. He thinks that my husband ought to 
put Caesar down with a strong hand. 

A Voice Without. Present arms. 

Corn. Who's that? Come in. [The door is 
shaken and opened violently.] 

Enter her father, Metellus Scipio. 

Father. 

Julia. We were just talking about you. 

Met. Where's your husband? Is he here? 
Has he been here? 

Corn. No, father. What is it? 

Met. Still at the House? He must have had 
my note. Has he sent round to you? 

Corn. No. What has happened? 

Met. I must talk to you, Cornelia. 

Julia [rising]. Good-bye, dear. 

Met. No. No, Cornelia. She mustn't go. 



14 THE TRAGEDY OF [Ad I 

You^ll have to sleep here, my dear girl. The 
streets aren't safe to-night. Sit down. Please 
sit down. We're all in the same boat. [Pause.] 
Cornelia. What's your husband going to do? 

Corn. Father. But I don't know. He tells 
me nothing. Nothing at least that is not 
common knowledge. 

Met. I've had letters. Caesar's advancing 
into Italy. With all his army. 

Corn. To fight us? To attack Rome? 

Met. Yes. It's what I always feared. But 
I never thought the man would be such a black- 
guard. 

Corn. Does my husband know of this? 

Met. Yes. I sent word to him at the Senate 
to meet me here. I had to ride out to the camp. 
Cornelia. I don't understand your husband. 
My dear girl, he's been playing with the situa- 
tion. I don't think you understand even now. 
It means that the whole of Rome is being handed 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 15 

over to a political brigand. All the governing 
classes, the religion of our fathers, all that has 
made Rome great. This cut-throat is marching 
to destroy it. Something happened at the camp. 

Corn. What, father? 

Met. The men. The soldiers. Roman sol- 
diers. Men who had eaten the bread and salt. 
They refused duty. Romans. Bribed to that. 
By this upstart, Caesar. 

Corn. They will stand and see Rome sacked 
by this outlaw. 

Met. I must see your husband. He's played 
with us. He must save us. 

Corn. There. There. He's coming. There's 
the sentry. 

A Voice Without. Attention. Eyes right. 

Met. Thank God. 

A Voice Without. Present arms. 

Cries. Hail! Pompey. Imperator. [A trum^ 
pet blows a flourish.] 



16 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

A Voice Without. Company. By the right. 
Quick. March. 

Philip entersy opening doors wide, saluting, 
showing the fasces lining the door. Enter 
PoMPEY. He carries a despatch box, Me- 
TELL-us salutes. 

[Exit Philip. Doors shut, 

PoMPEY. Ah, Julia. Ah, Corneha. [He goes 
to her, and looks into her eyes.] Ah, beloved. 
[Slowly.] There will be always peace for me, 
in that calm soul. [Turning wearily.] I think 
that Sertorius was right, Julia. 

Julia. Why? 

PoMPEY. In our long Spanish wars, he 
planned to steal away to the Fortunate Islands. 
He could be quiet a little there. [He goes to 
table dejectedly.] 

Met. You got my note? 

PoMPEY. Yes. Yes. [He sits like one stunned.] 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 17 

Met. Man. What are you going to do? 

Caesar's marching on Rome with forty thousand 

men. 

Corn. But you can check him. You must. 

Met. Do you understand? The whole — 
Does the Senate know? 

PoMPEY [opening his despatch hox]. Sit down, 
dear. [To Cornelia.] Sit down. The Senate 
knows. There were seven hundred of us in the 
Senate. Seven hundred of the best men in 
Rome, sitting there, at sunset, waiting. I had 
to stand up, among them. I had to tell them 
that one who— that a man whom I— a man 
very dear to me— was marching. With an 
army. Against this Rome. To destroy all 
that that great house, in generations of honour, 
has built up here, of virtue, of justice, of free- 
dom, to the wonder of the world. 
Met. Yes. Goon. Goon. 
Corn. What are they going to do? 



18 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

PoMPEY. Many there were in the pay of — 
that man. 

Met. How did they take it? 

PoMPEY. They were silent. But a murmur 
ran through the house. They moved in their 
chairs. Even those most glad were awed. 
[Pause.] Then Tullus, a man who owes his 
bread to me. He is in Caesar's pay now. Rose 
up smiling. To ask me what troops I had for 
the defence of Rome. 

Met. Yes. And you, the guardian of Rome, 
what troops have you? 

PoMPEY. I said that with the two legions sent 
back from Gaul, and with those reserves called 
up from the country, I might have thirty 
thousand men. 

Met. What is all this talk of you might have? 
Those two legions are in Caesar's pay. They're 
in mutiny at the camp. They're drawn up 
there. Ranged under the eagles. Their colonels 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 19 

are Caesar's, body and soul. They refuse to 
move. As for your reserves, they're with the 
people. They're all for Caesar. They came 
crowding out of their tents crying, Peace! 
Peace! They won't fight. You've mocked us. 
You've tricked us. You've betrayed Rome. 

PoMPEY. So they said in the Senate. 

Met. Why did you not prepare for this? 
You've had months in which to prepare? 

PoMPEY. I have prepared for it, Metellus. 
But I did not expect it. I thought that a noble 
act would be remembered, for more than twenty 
years. I thought that this Rome would be more 
to a man than a lust for power. And old friend- 
ship, I thought something. 

Met. I've no patience with you. [He sits 
with twitching hands.] — [Starting up.] Well. 
We know what you haven't done. At least tell 
us what you have done. 

PoMPEY. Yes. I'll tell you, Metellus. 



20 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

[Pause.] When this began between us, I 
thought of my own time under Sulla. I'd 
carried the eagles into Africa. I was a young 
man, then. I did rash things. But I was lucky. 
I conquered Africa. Sulla sent word to me then 
to disband my army, and return. [To Julia 
and Cornelia.] [Pause.] I resented Sulla's 
order. My soldiers resented it. They asked 
me to be their King in Africa. I obeyed Sulla. 
I thought — if I did — it might be easier — for the 
next young conqueror — to obey, too. Not to 
cause civil war. 

Corn. He thought — we both thought, father, 
that Caesar would remember that. We had 
planned how all our party, all the Senate even, 
should go out into the fields to welcome Csesar. 
As Sulla welcomed my husband then. If he 
came home alone. Disbanding his army. That 
would have been a triumph for Csesar greater 
than any Consulship. But Csesar only thinks 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 21 

of present power. He would see the glory of 
Rome pass rather than not see that. 

PoMPEY. I did not think that Caesar would be 
blind to the glory of Rome [going to the win- 
dow]. 

Met. I'll quote some other words to you. 
Something which you said once in Sicily. ' What 
is all this talk of law/ you said, 'to us that have 
swords by our sides?' What? You remember 
those words? Will you sit still, and see Rome " 
sacked? See the rabble make beastly all that 
seven centuries has made here? See their filthy 
hands laid — laid on these delicate ladies? See 
our temples, spoiled that their rat-faced brats 
may grow up to eat free bread, and loaf and spit 
outside the beer-shops. Pah! What did the 
Senate say? 

PoMPEY. They gave me absolute power 
here. 

Met. What? Then send out your press. 



22 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Bill every able-bodied man. Bill the women if 
the men won't come. 

PoMPEY. No, Metellus. Not that. 

Met. What then, man? [Cornelia inter- 
poses. Speaking to her husband.] 

Corn. It is a question now, dear heart, of 
standing for the right. The right side is always 
the weaker side. War is terrible. It's such a 
loathsome kind of spiritual death. But it is 
better to have war, than to see law set aside. 
The will of Rome must not be slighted. I 
don't mean the popular cry. That is all for 
Caesar now, dear. It was all for you once. It 
will be again. I mean all the burning thought 
of so many generations of our fathers. That 
must not be set aside for the lust of one man. It 
is the duty of a Roman, dear heart, to go out 
under the eagles to defend that burning thought, 
the Will of Rome. Even if he goes alone. And 
you will not go alone. The souls of oiu* fathers 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 23 

will march with you. And if you die, dear one, 
defending what they died to make, you will die 
as I would have my lover die. 

PoMPEY. Ah! Cornelia. You make death 
hard. But it would be sweet to die so for you. 
To die. To join that Senate of the old Romans; 
the wise ones. To bring them news of Rome 
there. In the shadows. 

Corn. Saying that you come crowned. Hav- 
ing played the Roman. 'Having obeyed their 
laws.' 

Met. [quickly]. Go on, girl. Oh, move him, 
Cornelia. Goad him to action. I cannot. For 
Rome's sake. Move him. Get him out of this 
child's mood. 

PoMPEY. Yes. Yes. Yes. [Slowly,] I shall 
fight Caesar. [Sharply.] 

Met. Ah! [Excitedly.] But at once. Give 
him no time to win recruits by success. Give 
them no time here. The rabble don't hesitate. 



24 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

They don't understand a man who hesitates. 
Give me all the cavalry. Look. I'll mount six 
cohorts of slingers. I can worry him with those. 

PoMPEY. Where's the map? [He quickly 
takes map from wall.] It's the effect here, not 
the beating of Caesar. We must stiffen the 
towns against him. Show them that they'll 
have to back their choice with their blood. 
That'll check his advance. 

Met. Csesar's quick, mind. He marches 
light, and he comes a devil of a pace. [Mus- 
ingly.] 

PoMPEY. You say he's got forty thousand 
men? Let's see your despatch. Who sent it? 
[Taking paper.] Can you trust this man? 

Met. Yes. A clever young fellow. 

PoMPEY. Young? Where's he served? 

Met. He was on Crassus' staff in Parthia. 
In the smash. 

PoMPEY. I don't trust ghosts. 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 25 

Met. Ghosts? 

PoMPEY. What escapes when an army's 
destroyed hke Crassus^ [Reading.] Forty 
thousand men. Shrewd. This is a shrewd lad, 
Metellus. He^s read a lot of school-books, this 
man. Come. Forty thousand? 

Met. Yes. 

PoMPEY. No. It's not possible, Metellus. 
This is politics. Not war. He's forcing our 
hand. His army's miles away. He's rushing 
the frontier with a few picked men. The pick 
of his light foot, and these light Gaulish lancers. 
It's a bold dash to put all Rome in a panic. 

Met. [biting his nails]. That's not what 
you'd have done. 

Pompey. That's how I know I'm right. 
[Standing.] Take the cavalry. Get into touch 
with him. Harass him. Hang on to him. 
Worry him all the time. I'll come on with all 
I can get. 



26 THE TRAGEDY OF \Act 1 

Met. Take the gladiators. 

PoMPEY. No. This is a Roman question. 
No paid slaves shall decide Rome's fate. 

Met. We shall be a desperate lot without 
them. 

CoKN. The Navy. Land men from the 
ships. 

Met. They can't march. This campaign is 
a race. 

PoMPEY. No. No. Look. [Excitedly.] I'll 
send gallopers to the fleet at Brindisi. I'll tell 
them to lash north, forced rowing. They'd 
catch him at Pisaurum. They could cut in on 
his left flank. So much for the attack. The 
city here's the problem. 

Met. Damn the city here. The city's for the 
winner. Always. 

PoMPEY [musing]. Csesar's got an army in 
occupation here already. Now to secure Rome. 

Met. [quickly]. The patricians. Let the pa- 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 27 

tricians form a Committee of Public Safety. 
They'll settle Caesar's mobs. 

Corn. No. No. There'd be massacre all 
over Rome. All frightened men are merciless. 

Met. Be quiet, girl. Yes, man. 

PoMPEY. No. That's the wild thing the 
desperate man always does to make his cause 
more desperate. It would madden the mob 
against us. Our task is to win the mob. 

Corn. Leave Cato in command here. 

Met. What? 

Corn. Let Cato raise a force purely to defend 
Rome. Not a party force at all. 

PoMPEY. Yes, Cato. He stands outside 
parties. He has power over both. 

Met. No, I say. Power? That man with 
power. Bah! He reminds every one of grand- 
papa. That's why he's popular. 

PoMPEY. It's popularity that's wanted. 

Met. It's power that's wanted. A few 



28 THE TRAGEDY OP [Act I 

crucified mutineers. Not Cato telling us of 
good King Numa. 

PoMPEY [picking up the hammer of his gong]. 
We'll send for Cato. 

Met. No. No. 

PoMPEY. Yes. 

Met. Wait a minute. 

POMPEY. Well? 

Met. We want a soldier here. 

PoMPEY. We want a man whom everybody 
can trust. 

Met. Cato's not firm enough. 

PoMPEY. I want Rome calm, not intimidated. 

Met. I'm not going to serve if that man's 
left behind in Rome. 

PoMPEY. Oh, don't say that. What are your 
.reasons against Cato? In this instance. 

Met. How will Cato deal with the mutineers 
in camp? 

PoMPEY. Ah! There. [Pause.] Yes. We 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 29 

can't be hard on those poor fellows. Try and 
see it as they see it. They've had the choice of 
refusing duty or beginning a civil war. 
Met. a soldier's first duty is obedience. 
PoMPEY. Is it? I'd rather have him a man 
first, myself. Only very good soldiers mutiny. 
Did you never notice that? 

Met. No. Nor you. They must be made 
examples of. 

Pompey [smiling]. Come. Some wine, Me- 
tellus. 

Met. [crossly]. This isn't a time for wine. 
[He stalks up and down the room.] Suppose 
we're beaten. I tell you if we're beaten you'll 
want more than old Father Cato here. You'll 
want a man to stamp out Caesar's faction. 
I'd stop their smihng. By the time Csesar 
stormed Rome he'd find few of his friends left. 
I'd make Rome so sick with blood. By. She'd 
think no more of Csesar. 



30 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

PoMPEY. My God! The streets ran blood. 
In Sulla's time. That once. The carts drove 
over them. 

Met. That was child's play to what this 
will be. 

PoMPEY. Yes. Suppose we're beaten. Rome 
stormed. No, no, never! [He flings the map 
aside.] No. I'll give up Italy rather. I will 
not fight in Italy. Caesar's rabble shall have no 
excuse for sacking Rome. 

Met. What? [A pause.] Where will you 
fight him then? In Spain, where your army 
is? 

Corn. Not in Spain. 

Met. Why not in Spain? 

PoMPEY. No. You know the proverb. 
Spain's a country where a big army starves 
and a little army gets beaten. I know, I've 
fought there. And it's far from Rome, and 
too near Gaul. No, Macedonia. We'll go 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 31 

over with the fleet to Macedonia. There are 
five good legions from Crassus' smash in Mace- 
donia. We'll prepare an army there. 

Met. Yes. But your friends in Rome. Our 
party here? The Senate? The Consuls? 

PoMPEY. They must come with us at once to 
Brindisi, where the fleet lies. We'll take ship 
there. [Writing.] I'm writing to Domitius 
at Corfinium, to join me instantly with his 
twenty cohorts. [Musing.] I wonder. If he 
stays, he will be invested. And he will stay, 
he's as obstinate as a mule. If he marches 
south at once we shall have twenty thousand. 
If not, we must leave him to his fate. I must 
abandon Italy. 

Met. [slowly]. There's something in it. Yes. 
I wonder. 

PoMPEY. It's not so risky. Fighting now is 
backing losing cards. 

Met. We shall lose friends. 



32 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

* 

PoMPEY. We shall gain time. 

Met. Let's see the map. [He takes another 
map,] I like it. Yes. It's a good move. 

PoMPEY. Caesar will attack my army in 
Spain, first. 

Met. Afraid of its invading his dear Gaul, 
you mean? 

PoMPEY. He'll have no choice in the matter. 
He's got no ships to follow us. I've got the 
Navy. While he's building ships, I'll build an 
Army. If he fights my generals in Spain, it 
will be a year before he can follow me. We 
shall have a great army by that time. 

Met. Yes. An army, eh? Macedonian pha- 
lanx, eh? We'll send out a fiery sign through 
Macedonia. All the swordsmen of the hills will 
come. Out of Dacia, out of Thrace. Jove, 
what an army! With Egypt at your back, 
too. 

PoMPEY. Yes. Egypt's full of my old sol- 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 33 

diers. We can always fall back on King 
Ptolemy. [He becomes sad.] Ah, well. Ah, 
well. 

Corn. What is it? 

PoMPEY [quickly]. Nothing. [He rises.] I 
was thinking of all this kingliness wandering in 
little wild Greek towns. 

Corn. The kingly mind always lives in a 
kingly city. 

FoMFEY [eagerly]. Ah! Who said that? 

Corn. You said it. 

PoMPEY. Ah. Where's the fire that scatters 
those sparks? Why doesn't it burn in us 
always? 

Met. [excitedly]. It's burning now. Look 
here. Listen. Look here. Your idea of 
Macedonia. Splendid! Caesar won't follow. 
[Slapping the table.] He'll be afraid. Part 
the world between you. Let Caesar keep the 
West. You be King in the East. Build up 



34 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

another Rome in Athens. With you in the 
East, we could do what Alexander did. We 
could 

PoMPEY. No more ambitions, Metellus. You 
see where ambition leads. 

Met. [flushed]. You wait till you see those 
Dacians. Big, black, clean-limbed fellows, 
Julia, with swords and steel shields. They 
charge like cavalry. [He fills wine,] 

PoMPEY. So, Macedonia. 

Met. Yes, Macedonia. 

Corn. When? 

PoMPEY. Now, dear. 

Corn. To-night? 

PoMPEY. It doesn't give you much time. It 
will be hard for you to leave all your pretty 
things behind. 

Corn. I was thinking about your night's 
rest. Life is book and picture to me. All that 
is Rome to us comes with us. 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 35 

Met. Well then [rolling up the map with a 
click], boot and saddle. - 

PoMPEY. Take what men you have, Metellus. 
And press post horses. You'll want my orders 
though. [He strikes the gong.] 

Enter Philip. 

Philip. Sir. 

PoMPEY. Ask Theophanes to speak to me a 
moment. [Exit Philip. 

Met. That Greek writer-fellow. I don't 
know how you stand that man. 

Enter Theophanes, who hows and is saluted. 

PoMPEY. Sit down. [He takes papers from 
despatch box.] We're going to Macedonia. We 
take ship at Brindisi. These orders to our 
party. Have them filled in and sent round. 

Theo. Yes. But you won't want them. 

PoMPEY. You mean that — What do you 
mean? 



36 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Theo. I mean, you won't want them. 
Caesar's at Cremona. He's not marching on 
Rome. He's encamped in his own province. 
It was a false alarm. 

All. What? 

PoMPEY. How do you know that? 

Theo. Labienus has just come in. Csesar's 
right-hand man. I've been talking to him. 
Csesar's sending messengers with new proposals 
to you. He's not marching on Rome. 

Met. So we go on again. 

PoMPEY. What are the new proposals? Does 
he know? 

Theo. [shrugging his shoulders]. His men are 
beginning to shrink, I suppose, now that it 
comes to the touch. I don't blame 'em. 

Julia. Do you think it's an excuse to gain 
time? 

Corn. Ah, no, Julia. Let us give Caesar 
credit for a little nobleness. 



Act 1\ POMPEY THE GREAT 37 

Met. Pah! He was in Catiline's conspiracy. 
It was proved beyond a doubt. Well, Pompey. 
What are you going to do? 

Pompey. It is very wonderful. I must see 
Cato. [Going,] 

Met. The lath and plaster Spartan. Why? 

Theo. He's here. 

Cato, in black robes, enters. He stands with 
arms folded^ looking at them all. 

Met. Well, su"? 

Pompey. Yes, Cato? 

Corn. YouVe heard? Won't you sit down? 

Cato. So this is the family party. Well, 
Pompey. Now I see the drags that hinder your 
honesty. [To Julia.] You. The critic. You 
with neither art nor brain. Thinking you show 
both by condemning them in others. 

Julia. Do you show art and brain by con- 
demning me? 



38 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Cato. Look into your heart, woman. 

Cato [^oMetellus]. You, sir. The General. 
A tailor and a love affair made you a General. 
Not war. War doesn't make your kind. But 
you long for war. You would shriek your 
country into war, any day, sir. So that humble 
brave men might make pickings for you. 
Invitations. Gold. What you call love affairs. 
Fame. [To Theophanes, while Metellus 
looks him up and down.] I don't know you, 
sir. 

Theo. a contributor to Time's waste-paper 
basket. 

Cato. Ah! [To Pompey.] And you, the 
mischief-maker, the genius. Well, which of us 
was right, Pompey? 

Pompey. You were right. But I have acted 
more friendly than Csesar. 

Cato. You have made the mischief. Can 
you unmake it? 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 39 

PoMPEY. Can you unmake it? 

Cato. I? I am going into Sicily. You 
forget. I am Governor there. 

Corn. But now. In this moment of truce. 
Surely it can be remedied? 

Cato. Yes. At a price. 

PoMPEY. How? 

Cato. You must go alone, on foot, to Csesar. 

PoMPEY. Never. 

Cato. And tell him that you come to save 
Rome from civil war. That a man's pride is a 
little thing to that. And that so you have put 
by your greatness. 

Corn. Ah! Ah! [She watches Fomtey^s face. 
All turn to Pompey.] 

PoMPEY. No. I have been a King here. I 
have been like God here. Kings have come to 
me on their knees. Csesar. Caesar's. I made 
Csesar by a stroke of my pen. No. Ah, no. 

Cato. Csesar would be shamed to tears, 



40 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

Pompey. Would not that victory content you? 

PoMPEY. I cannot. No, I cannot. 

Cato. Not to save Rome, Pompey? 

Pompey. No. I should be a mock. No. No. 

Corn. You would be a fire, Pompey, for all 
time. All the lamps of the world would be 
kindled at that nobleness. 

Pompey. You wish it, too, dear heart? 

Corn, [softly]. I wish it. 

Pompey [looking round]. To a young man. 
Whom I have made. Oh, Cato, Cato! Is 
kindness to a friend only a bitter form of suicide? 
[He fumbles at the clasp of his purple.] Very 
well, I will go, Marcus. [He slings his purple 
aside.] 

Cato. I thought you were Pompey the Little. 
I wronged you. 

Met. [to Theophanes.] So. [They exchange 
glances.] 

Pompey. Old man. Old man. 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 41 

[A noise without. Cries, A sentry calls 
* Halt J Struggling, Shouts of ^ Stand 
hack,^ ^Let me in,^ The spears rattle. 
The door is shaken, 

Theo. [opening door]. What's this? [Pause.] 
Let him in, Sentry. 

Enter filthy Horseman, dust to the eyes, tottering. 
The door is left open, showing Soldiers. 

Met. One of Caesar's lancers. 

Theo. A deserter, eh? 

The Man [gasping]. Which of you is the 
lord? 

PoMPEY [pouring wine for him], I am he. 
Drink this. Take your time. What is it? 

The Man [spilling his drink like a man half 
dead of thirst]. Caesar! Caesar! I escaped last 
night. Caesar! 

Corn. What? 

The Man. He's crossed the Rubicon. With 



42 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act I 

all his army. Marching on Rome. Be here in 

two days. [A pause. 

PoMPEY [resuming his purple]. That settles 

K 

it. There can be no treaty now. 

Corn. So war has begun. 

PoMPEY [sadly]. There it is. Only it is more 
terrible now. More terrible than it was. 
[Turning to go.] It must be war now to the end. 

Met. [picking up the orders from the table and 
slapping them to command attention]. And now. 
To Brindisi. [He walks briskly towards the door, 
but halts opposite Cato, at whom he glares. Pom- 
PEY and Cornelia halt to watch him.] Well, sir. 
My Conscript Father. Will you crawl before 
Caesar now, sir? It is long since a Roman bade 
his King to lick the dust before a traitor. You 
and your kind may sue to such. Rome puts 
other thoughts into our hearts. 

Cato. There are two Romes, Metellus. One 
built of brick by hodsmen. But the Rome I 



Act I] POMPEY THE GREAT 43 

serve glimmers in the uplifted heart. It is a 
court for the calm gods. That Rome. Let me 
not shame that city. Advance the eagles. 
A Voice Without. Present arms. 

[A trumpet blows a blast. 
Curtain, 



44 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 



ACT II 

Scene I 

Staff-officer's tent at Durazzo. Walls of plain canvas. 
Canvas door running on rings at back R. Smaller can- 
vas door at hack L. Table and camp-chairs. Every- 
thing bare and severe. Domitius, Lentulus, The- 
OPHANES, at the table. 

Domitius. So it goes on. And Spain is lost. 
Look at this position here. Caesar has shut 
us in here Uke so many sheep in a pen. Has 
Pompey no pride? Or has he grown besotted? 

Theophanes. Flaccus is raiding Caesar's hnes 
this morning. He will attack them in three 
places. And break them. 

DoMi. [fiercely]. Flaccus is a boy. A whole 
year wasted, and half the empire lost. 

Enter Pompey hurriedly. They salute. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 45 

PoMPEY. Good morning. I have called you 
all together to tell you of the loss of my Spanish 
army, lately commanded by Afranius. We had 
expected victory, from Afranius' letters. But 
we are soldiers. We know what Fortune is in 
war. We are not merchants, to cast him for 
failing. 

DoMi. We have given up Italy, and thrown 
away Spain. Africa is invaded and Sicily 
taken. We have given up and drawn back 
everywhere. And why? That we might come 
here to be cooped up by an army half our size. 
I want to know why? We all want to know 
why. 

PoMPEY. I remember Sulla saying that he 
could make an army love him by talking to the 
privates occasionally. But that no amount of 
talking would make his generals love his ideas. 
Be content. And bide my time. 

Lent. Magnus. I am not given to criticism; 



46 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

but this biding time is ruin. We are losing allies ; 
we are losing Rome. Rome looked to you to 
crush this upstart. Instead of that you have 
let a rebellion grow into a civil war. You have 
watched your adherents stamped out piece- 
meal. You have done nothing. 

PoMPEY. Wait. 

DoMi. We have waited for a year. 

PoMPEY. I ask you to wait a little longer. 

Lent. Magnus, while we wait, the rabble is 
stamping out aristocracy throughout the world. 
[He rises.] 

PoMPEY. Sit down, Lentulus. I tell you to 
wait. The war is in my hands. 

DoMi. War is in the hands of the man who 
strikes. [He thrusts aside the lesser door.] 
There. Among the crags there. By the pine- 
clump. In that great red heap like an iron mine. 
That is Caesar's camp. IVe been out there 
night after night, worming over rocks and down 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 47 

gullies, keeping my course by the stars, so that, 
when a chance came, I could take an army 
into that camp blindfold. IVe a map here. 
[Throws down a paper.] Those red dots are the 
sentries. Each dot was made at the risk of my 
hearths blood. IVe grovelled in the earth 
before all those sentries, praying for the moon 
to go in, while they talked of their love-affairs. 
IVe seen the sergeant coming his rounds with 
a lantern, and shut my eyes lest they should 
gleam, and betray me. I could take that camp 
with two legions in the blackest night of the 
year. This war is breaking the world in two. 
And you send Flaccus with a corporaFs guard to 
pull down a hundred yards of paling. Justify 
that, before you tell me to wait. 

PoMPEY. Flaccus is fighting the decisive 
battle of the war. 

Lent. This is trifling. [He rises and moves 
away.] 



48 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

DoMi. The decisive. I will tell you what a 
decisive battle is. I took part in one for you at 
Massilia three months ago. At the end of that 
siege, there was no city. There were no people. 
Only some deathsheads dying of plague, and a 
few madmen on the walls. And outside, there 
were towers flinging fires at us, and slings 
flinging rocks at us, and miles of army coming 
up to the sack. That was a decisive battle. 

PoMPEY. Domitius, when a man thinks 
fixedly of anything, desiring it with his whole 
nature, he creates a strong pitiless devil. 

Domitius, you are given up to a devil. A 
devil of lust for battle. You are fiercer than a 
devil, for when there is no enemy you fight 
yoiu- friends, and when there are no friends you 
fight yourself. And when you have torn your- 
self bloody you fight ideas, not because you 
understand them, and hate them, but because 
when you are not fighting you are nothing. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 49 

I fear you, Domitius. A man's friends are those 
who understand his ideas, and advance them. 
You are Caesar's friend, Domitius. 

DoMi. [intensely]. You killed my brother, 
when you were a young man. For that, I 
swore to tear your heart out. You dined with 
me once, twenty years ago. You will not 
remember. I put my hand upon your shoulder. 
I had a knife in my other hand. I could have 
stabbed you to the heart. And there you would 
have died, Magnus, before my old Marian 
friends. But I saw that you were a better man 
than my brother. Something you said. I saw 
that you were what Rome wanted. [Pause, 

[Fiercely.] You know better than to call me 
Csesar's friend. I've made Caesar rock in his 
seat. 

PoMPEY. You are Caesar's friend. Your 
heart beats pulse for pulse with Caesar's heart. 
You mahgn me because my hands are not red 



50 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act 11 

from butchery like his. And at this moment, 
while you mahgn me, Flaccus is ending the war. 
Take no more thought of the war. The war is 
over. 

[The Generals draw to one side and talk apart 
for a moment. 

PoMPEY. Rome is the problem now. You 
would do well to think of Rome. This is the 
seventh democratic rising since my boyhood. 
Seven desperate attempts to change in fifty 
years. Does that teach you nothing? 

Lent. Theophanes. 

DoMi. Yes. 

Theo. Magnus. 

PoMPEY. I offered a broken and distracted 
Italy. He took it. A turbulent, useless Spain. 
He took it. I have flung down half a useless 
world, and he has gorged it and come on into 
the trap. I am camped in plenty, with six 
fleets ruling the seas. Csesar is trenched in 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 51 

mud, living on roots. Besieging me, you call it? 
He has dug thirty miles of works. He has not 
enough men to guard ten miles. His men are 
exhausted and starving. He stays in those 
works during my pleasure; no longer. He 
cannot force me to battle. He cannot raid my 
hues. He cannot go back to Rome. 

And I, with one slight thrust, am tumbling 
him into ruin. 

Enter an Orderly with a despatch. He gives it 

to POMPEY. 

Lent. From Flaccus? 

DoMi. You are of the Fifth? 

Orderly. From Titus Pulcio, my lord. 

PoMPEY. Very well. 

Orderly. Have you any orders, my lord? 

PoMPEY. No orders. Acknowledge. 

[Exit Orderly, saluting, 
Theo. Is it important? 



52 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

PoMPEY. Read it. 

Theo. [reading]. From Titus Pulcio, legate, 
fifth legion, to Headquarters: ^The attack 
under Valerius Flaccus has been repulsed with 
heavy loss. The survivors have fallen back 
upon the old works, south of the river, where 
desperate fighting is now going on. I am 
marching with what I have. The enemy is 
in force. Stragglers report position hope- 
less.' 

DoMi. These thrusting youths want a lesson. 
Now, Magnus. Justify your plan, now. 

PoMPEY. Wait. 

Lent. Wait? While our right flank is being 
rolled up? [Coldly. 

PoMPEY. It would take Caesar two days to 
bring up enough troops to crush our right. 

DoMi. Surely you will smash this attacking 
force. 

PoMPEY. I am fighting with the thought of 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 53 

Rome before me. I will not march back to 
Rome over corpses, in the Sulla fashion. 

DoMi. At least you will march back over 
those whom we took last night. I killed those. 

PoMPEY. You killed those men? 

DoMi. They were rebels, I tell you. Traitors. 

PoMPEY. I will judge traitors. 

DoMi. They were my own deserters. Dogs. 
I will serve all traitors so. And I tell you this. 

PoMPEY. Not a word. You disgrace our 
cause, Domitius. [Pause, and change of voice.] 
I may win this war. Or this [showing his gold 
eagle-clasp] may pay a camp-trull yonder. But 
whether I win or go down, my men shall bear 
themselves nobly. Those on my side must act 
Uke knights of the bodyguard of God. See to it. 

Enter Chief Centurion Cotta, battered. 

CoTTA. I report the death of commander 
Flaccus, my lord. 



54 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

PoMPEY. Killed? 

CoTTA. Yes, my lord. 

DoMi. That is what happens in skirmishing. 
Nothing is done, and the good man gets killed. 

CoTTA. We were beaten back, my lord; the 
surprise failed. 

PoMPEY. Yes? Well? 

CoTTA. We rushed their wall, tore up their 
palisades, and set fire to two of the turrets. 
Then they surrounded us. I should think they 
had two legions on to us. We had to cut our 
way home. 

PoMPEY. And your commander? 

CoTTA. He was killed in the thick, my lord. 
After our storm, we were driven back on to the 
palisades. The pales were all on fire, all along 
the line, burning hard. I looked one minute, 
and saw him backed right up against the 
flames, with a dozen Thracians. They had a 
whole troop of lancers stabbing at them. I got 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 55 

within a few paces of him, trying to bring him 
off, but the fire balls burst so thick one couldn't 
see. My men were being cut to pieces, the 
cavalry was cutting in on our rear, and there 
came a rush of spearmen which swept me off 
the rampart. I saw his body falHng back into 
the fire, all fit up. But we could never get near 
the place again. They cut us to pieces down 
on the flat. They killed eight hundred of us. 

Lent. A severe repulse. 

DoMi. Wasted. Wasted lives. Utterly use- 
less, wicked waste. 

PoMPEY. And then? What happened then? 

CoTTA. They drove us back into the old 
works by the river. Over the outer wall into 
the ditch. [Pause.] We were penned up in the 
ditch hke beasts in a slaughter-house. They 
swarmed up above us on the wall, pelting us. 
We were below them, grinding in the mud, hud- 
dled hke sheep. Men will always huddle when 



56 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

they have no room to use their shields. It was 
so fierce, that I thought our men would break. 
But we could not break. We were shut in. 
We were so pushed together that the dead could 
not fall. And being pressed man to man gave 
us a kind of courage. I got up on a heap where 
the wall had fallen. I wanted to see. I could 
see all a wave of red plumes where Caesar's 
Gauls were pressing up, calling to their horses. 
Arr. Arr. There was a roar everywhere like 
ice breaking up in the spring. Behind their 
main attack they were making a way through 
the wall for their horse. Every now and then 
their picks flashed and the earth came scattering 
down. It was worst at the gate. The noise of 
the axes on the gate was hke a ship-yard. They 
brought up a tree to batter it, and every time 
they ran at it, you could see the wood give, in 
great spHnters. I thought we were lost; but it 
was our fight, my lord. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 57 

For I heard fifes, playing 'The Day of Zama/ 
and men singing. It was a cohort of the fifth, 
marching to support our left flank. They came 
on slowly, in line, with their heads up, and the 
fifes playing. The centurions led them, singing, 
marching well ahead. It was a fine thing to 
see those men coming on. Their ranks were so 
locked that the oak-trees on their shields made 
a green breastwork across their front. It was 
our fight after that. We caught them in the 
outer ditch. The ditch is choked with them. 
Caesar lost a full thousand there in the ditch. 
They were broken. We shook them to the 
heart. They will not face us again, my lord, 
for a long time. Nor any enemy. Caesar will 
have trouble with them. 

PoMPEY. Very well, Cotta. 

CoTTA. They are sending in the body with a 
trumpet, my lord. 

PoMPEY. Yes! Send me the returns of killed 



58 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

and wounded and the centurions' reports. Your 
legion will stand no watch to-night. See that 
your men rest. Order wine from the sutlers 
for them. I will speak to them to-night. 
CoTTA. Thank you, my lord. 

[He goes out, saluting. 
DoMi. One moment, Cotta. 

[He goes out, after him. 
Theo. Caesar is sending a trumpet. Can he 
be suing for peace? 

Lent. Why should he sue for peace after a 
skirmish? 

PoMPEY. It was the pricking of a bubble. He 
is suing for peace. And if I grant peace, I 
shall have these to fight. And if I refuse peace, 
this ruin will go on. 
Theo. Do we receive this trumpet? 

Enter Domitius. 

DoMi. Magnus. Csesar is in disorder. His 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 59 

men are leaving the trenches. He is withdraw- 
ing. His south walls are abandoned akeady. 

PoMPEY. Yes. He has learned his lesson. 

He must pay them now for the life they have 
spent for him. He cannot pay them. The most 
that he can do is to save them from the result of 
his insanity. 

Theo. He can retreat. 

PoMPEY. How can he retreat? He cannot 
retreat. Where can he go? My navies hold 
the sea. To the north there are savage tribes. 
The south is blocked by my garrisons. I am 
here in the west with my army. And to the east 
lies Metellus, with another army. 

He has one chance of saving them. He can 
sue for peace. 

DoMi. You are not going to receive this 
herald? 

PoMPEY. Yes. Rome must have peace. 
If Csesar will make submission 



60 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

DoMi. I A surrender will be useless. 

Theo. Caesar must be destroyed. 

Lent. How will you settle Rome, with 
Caesar alive? 

PoMPEY. This war has gone on all my life. 
Sulla's method failed. Catiline's method failed. 
They shall not be tried again. Rome shall be 
settled this time finally. 

DoMi. If you hesitate to strike now, you are a 
traitor, Magnus. 

PoMPEY. I have made my plan. 

[Sternly.] I will abide by it. To your place. 
Murmur no more. 

No Httle gust of passion shall set me waver- 
ing. 

[A Voice without and a trumpet. 

Voice. Present arms. Port arms. Pass 
friend. Present arms. 

PoMPEY. Life is nothing. It is the way of life 
which is so much. Enter there. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 61 

CoTTA [entering]. The body, my lord. With 
the trumpet. 

Enter Bearers with the body of Valerius Flac- 
cus. CoTTA, and the others salute the corpse. 
Then, with a solemnity of trumpets blowing 
points of ceremony, Marcus Acilius enters, 
led by two Centurions. He is blindfolded. 
CoTTA, the Bearers and the Centurions go 
out, when the handkerchief is removed. 

Acilius. I bring back your soldier, Cneius 
Pompey. 

PoMPEY. You bring a message? 

AciL. I come from Caesar. 

Pompey. Well? 

AciL. He asks you to end this war. The gods 
have given you an equal measure of victory. 
You have both lost and won half the Roman 
world. Now that the world is shared between 
you, you can consent to a peace. To-morrow, if 



62 THE TRAGEDY OF [Ad II 

fortune favour one of you, the fortunate one will 
think himself too great to parley. [Pause.] 
Csesar asks that a peace may be concluded. If 
you will undertake to do the same, he will make 
public oath to disband his army within three 
days. That is his proposal. 

PoMPEY. More than a year ago, the Senate 
ordered Csesar to disband his troops. That 
decree still stands disregarded. I cannot treat 
with a rebel. Csesar must obey that decree and 
submit to the Senate's mercy. 

AciL. The quarrel is between you and Caesar, 
Magnus. 

PoMPEY. Not at all. I represent the Senate. 

AciL. Your party of the Senate, which my 
party does not recognise. 

PoMPEY. These are the facts, Acilius. Csesar 
has attacked Republican rule. He has failed. 
I make it a condition of treaty that he ac- 
knowledge RepubUcan authority. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 63 

AciL. Caesar has never denied that authority. 
He is in arms against a perversion of that au- 
thority by unscrupulous men. That he seeks 
to end the RepubUc is denied by my presence 
here, asking for peace. Csesar is no suitor to 
you. That great mind is its own sufficient 
authority. Farewell, Magnus. [Going, 

[At door.] You will grant peace if Csesar 
kneels in the dust. Very well. Rome is more 
to him than honour. He will kneel in the dust. 
In the most pubhc place in Rome. He will 
submit himself, body and cause, to the judgment 
of the Roman people there assembled. 

Will that suffice? 

POMPEY. No. 

The mob has no voice in this matter. The 
mob must be taught to obey its rulers. Csesar 
must submit to the Senate. 

AciL. Then the blood will be on your hands, 
Magnus. [Going, 



64 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

PoMPEY. It will suffice if Caesar surrender to 
myself in the presence of both armies. But a 
public act of submission must be made. Other- 
wise it will be thought that Caesar drove us from 
Italy, and forced us to accept his terms. That 
I cannot allow. 

AciL. I am to tell Caesar that you refuse. 
[Quietly.] From fear of what the world may 
think? 

PoMPEY. You count that a little thing, the 
thought of the world? For what else are we 
fighting; but to control the thought of the 
world? What else matters, Acilius? 

You think that I am fighting to be a master? 
Not so. I am fighting because I know what 
Caesar wants. I have watched his career step 
by step. Caesar means to be king. He has 
bribed the rabble to crown him. 

You see only the brilliant man, winning — 
what he has the power to win. I look beyond 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 65 

that man. I see Rome under a secret, bloody 
domination and a prey to future Caesars. That 
shall not be. 

I am an old man, now, Acilius. I have been 
fighting this battle all my life. I hope now to 
end it. You have heard my terms. 

[He strikes a gong, 

A pause. Enter a Centurion. 

Do you accept them or refuse them? Take 
your time. 

Pause.^ 

AciL. I refuse them. 

PoMPEY [to Centurion]. You will take the 
Gemella legion, drive in Caesar's outposts and 
burn the works. [Exit Centurion. 

AciL. There is no voice for peace, then. I 
have failed. Now that my task is done, may 
I speak with you privately? 



66 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

PoMPEY. Yes. On a private matter. Is your 
business private? 

AciL. Yes. It is private. 

PoMPEY [to Generals]. Leave us. 

[Exit Generals. 

[To AciLius.] Be brief. 

AciL. My mother married you. Years ago. 
She was dragged by force from my father so 
that you might be propped by a vote the 
more. She died of a broken heart, in your bed. 

You have taken worse props, now. These 
nobles. They are using you to stamp out 
democracy. So that they may plunder in 
peace for another fifty years. 

And when you have done their task. When 
the war is over. 

PoMPEY [taking up gong], I cannot listen to 
this. 

AciL. You plan to make just those demo- 
cratic reforms for which Caesar is fighting. You 



Act II] POMPEY THP GREAT 67 

mean to cripple the aristocracy. And they will 
stop you. Domitius hates you. Metellus fears 
you. Lentulus is jealous of you. They are 
planning to get rid of you. Even now. [Pause. 

Get rid of them, Magnus. Take Caesar as 
your friend. End the war. Drive them out. 

PoMPEY. And after? 

AciL. You could make Rome what you 
please. 

[PoMPEY strikes the gong. 

Re-enter Generals. 

PoMPEY. And after? [Pause.] Your party 
shall submit to mine. [He writes a few words.] 
You may take this to Caesar. [Gives writing.] 

Give this man safe conduct. 

AciL. I am going, Magnus. I shall not see 
you again. [Theophanes goes out. 

PoMPEY [who has turned away]. Well? 

AciL. Pride is a mean thing in the presence of 



68 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

death. To-day you are great, and the kings 
bring tribute to you. To-morrow you may be 
this. Only this. Praised by the worm. 

[Showing corpse, 
PoMPEY. You talk of the presence of death. 
Man, I am in the presence of life, and death's a 
pleasure to it. 

CoTTA and Centurions enter with Theophanes. 
They salute. 

Who cares what I may be? I may be carrion. 
But while I am man, and carry a faith in me, I 
will guard that faith. See this man through 
the Hues. 

[With a solemn blowing of a point of cere- 
mony, CoTTA and the Centurions go out, 
leading Acilius, blindfolded. Murmurs. 
Acclamations. 
The Generals eye Pompey. He walks to the 
body and looks at it^ 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 69 

PoMPEY. Poor boy. You have gone a long 
way from this inn. 

When you were born, women kissed you, and 
watched you as you slept, and prayed for you, 
as women do. When you learned to speak, they 
praised you; they laughed and were so tender 
with you, even when they were in pain. And to- 
night you will wander alone, where no woman's 
love can come to you, and no voice speak to 
you, and no grief of ours touch you to an 
answer. 

The dead must be very lonely. 

DoMi. [coming forward and looking at the 
body]. That? Why be sad at that? He was 
marked for it. [Quietly.] Magnus. I have 
something to say. I give you full credit for 
what you have done. You were right. But 
not so right as I would have been. Destruc- 
tion's what war's for. Still. It has happened. 
Now there is Rome. How are you going back 



70 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

to Rome without the moral support of a 
victory? 

Lent. In Rome, it is said openly that you 
have been shuffled about at Caesar's will. 

Theo. And that we have been beaten in 
every battle. 
PoMPEY. What is that noise, there? 

[Cries of 'Victory J Clapping, Trumpets, 
A cry of 'Present Arms,^ The spears 
rattle. 

Enter Lucius Lucceius, in the civil dress. 

Lent. Lucceius. 
Theo. Lucius Lucceius. 

[Lucceius stands looking at them silently. 
He salutes the body, and advances slowly. 
Lucceius [slowly]. I salute you, Cneius Pom- 
pey. I come from Rome. 

PoMPEY. What news do you bring from 
Rome? 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 71 

Luce. News of your triumph, Magnus. 

Caesar's army, under Curio, invaded Africa. 

Curio is killed. His army is destroyed. 
Africa is saved to us. [He takes a laurel 
wreath. 

The Roman people send me with this wreath, 
Magnus. [He offers it, with reverent dignity, 

PoMPEY [taking the wreath and laying it on 
Flaccus' head]. Once, long ago, I played with 
you. By the fish-pools at Capua, watching the 
gold-fish. 

You asked me for my purple, that glittering 
day long ago. [He lays his purple over Flaccus.] 
All things for which men ask are granted. A 
word may be a star or a spear for all time. This 
is the day of my triumph, it seems. 

[A distant trumpet winds. It winds again, 

Theo. There is a horn blowing. 

PoMPEY. It is blowing like a death-horn. 

DoMi. It is a Roman call. 



72 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

In Caesar's camp. 

[DoMiTius flings aside the canvas. 

It is the ^Prepare to March/ He is in retreat. 
His huts are burning. They are winding out 
upon the road there. They are floundering up 
the pass. Two thousand horse could ruin them. 

PoMPEY. Ruin is not my province. Let them 
destroy themselves. They are wandering out 
into the wilds without heart, without hope, 
without plan. That is the forlornest march 
ever called by trumpets. There is death in 
every heart there already. Well. We shall 
follow. 

Call the chief centurions. 

[Theophanes goes to the door, to the 
Sentry without 

[Going to the body.] And to-night we shall be 
marching from this poor earth, pursuing Caesar, 
marching to many trumpets, under the stars, 
singing as we march. I shall end Sulla's 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 73 

war, now. But we will kill the rebellion, re- 
member, not those Romans. 

The Chief Centurions enter. 

A trumpeter there. Strike camp. Prepare 
to march. [A Centurion going out, calls. 

Take up the body. 
1st Centurion. 
Man is a sacred city, built of marvellous 

earth. 

2nd Centurion. 

Life was lived nobly here to give this body 

birth. 
3rd Centurion. 
Something was in this brain and in this eager 

hand. 
4th Centurion. 

Death is so dumb and blind. Death cannot 
understand. [They lift the hier. 



74 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

Death drifts the brain with dust and soils the 

young Umbs' glory. 
Death makes women a dream and men a 

traveller's story, 
Death drives the lovely soul to wander under 

the sky, 
Death opens unknown doors. It is most 
grand to die. 

[They go out, followed by Pompey. 
[Now without comes a shaking blast from a 
trumpet. It is taken up and echoed by 
many trumpets, near and far, blowing the 
legionary calls, till the air rings. 
Curtain, 

Scene II 

The same. Taper light. Dawn later. Pompey writing. 
Enter Lucceius. 

Luce. Not in bed, Magnus? 
Pompey. I have had evil dreams. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 75 

Are you from Rounds? 

Is all quiet? 

Luce. Yes. 

There is a light near Caesar's camp. They are 
burning their dead. 

Our scouts took two lancers. They say that 
Caesar's men are dying. Of fever and hunger. 

PoMPEY. Yes. He must surrender within a 
few days. And so they are burning their dead? 

Luce. Yes. 

PoMPEY. Now we have Rome to settle. 

[Pause. 

I lie awake, thinking. 

What are we, Lucceius? 

Luce. Who knows? Dust with a tragic 
purpose. Then an end. 

PoMPEY. No. But what moves us? 

I saw a madman in Egypt. He was eyeless 
with staring at the sun. He said that ideas 
come out of the East, like locusts. They settle 



76 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

on the nations and give them Hfe; and then pass 
on, dying, to the wilds, to end in some scratch on 
a bone, by a cave-man's fire. 

I have been thinking that he was wise, per- 
haps. Some new swarm of ideas has been set- 
thng on Rome. A new kind of Hfe is being born. 
A new spirit. I thought a year ago that it was 
crying out for the return of kings, and personal 
rule. I see now that it is only crying out for a 
tyrant to sweep the old life away. 

Rome has changed, Lucceius. Outwardly, 
she is the same, still. A city which gives prizes 
to a few great people. A booth where the rabble 
can sell their souls for bread, and their bodies for 
the chance of plunder. Inwardly, she is a great 
democratic power struggling with obsolete laws. 

Rome must be settled. The crowd must have 
more power. 

Luce, [surprised]. That would be a denial of 
your whole life, Magnus. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 77 

You have been crushing democracy for forty 

years. 

PoMPEY. I have crushed rebeUions. I mean 

now to crush their cause. 

There must be a change. A great change. 

Enter Metellus, Domitius, Lentulus. 

Luce, [giving paper]. This is my report. 
[He salutes and goes. At the door he pauses, look- 
ing out] The pyre is still burning. They must 
be dying like flies. [Exit, 

Metellus [as the Generals sit facing Pompey]. 
Caesar has sent to me privately, Magnus, to beg 
me to ask terms from you. I sent back his 
letter without comment. 

The war is over; but we are not yet secure. 
We shall have to garrison the provinces for some 
years with men whom we can trust. 

Spain and Gaul are arranged for among 
ourselves. It is the lesser appointments. Mag- 



78 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

nus, I want your voice, on behalf of Lucius 
Tuditanus. I was thinking of sending him as 
my deputy into Asia. 

PoMPEY. Is that the soldier Tuditanus, who 
did so well under you? [To Domitius. 

DoMi. No. His nephew. 

Met. He's a young man on my personal 
staff. 

PoMPEY. Has he qualified for the prsetor- 
ship? 

Met. No. Not in the strict legal sense. 
But he was of the greatest use to me in Asia. 
He would be competent. 

PoMPEY. In what way was he of use to you? 

Met. In the collection of tribute, when they 
disputed our assessments. They hoped to 
wrangle in Court, without paying, till Caesar 
saved them. Tuditanus stopped that. He 
judged the claims on the spot, and the tax was 
paid, or distrained, there and then. Often the 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 79 

patrols did not have to unsaddle. And as we 
needed the money quickly, the system was of 
great use to me. 

PoMPEY. Yes. But the law is plain, Metellus. 
A praetor and a praetor's deputy represent Rome. 
It is a responsible office. They judge and 
govern in Rome's name. Men must be trained 
for it. What has Tuditanus done, besides this 
tax-collection, that the laws should be broken 
for him? 

Lent. His father has made many sacrifices 
for us. 

PoMPEY. There is a growing belief in Rome 
that a sacrifice should be a good investment. 
Any thing^ else? 

Met. He is one of those brilliant young men, 
of proved loyalty, for whom we ought to pro- 
vide. I recommend him to you. 

PoMPEY. That is much in his favour. But 
I want proof that he can govern. Tell me, 



80 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

Metellus. Where has he shown administrative 
talent? 

Met. He has not shown it. He is a man 
whom we ought to bind to us. He would soon 
learn. We could give him a staff of old soldiers, 
to steady him, at first. 

PoMPEY. Has he any power of command? 
Where has he served? 

DoMi. He was in the horse for a time, in Lycia. 

PoMPEY [to Metellus]. What recommended 
him to you? 

Met. Never mind the merit. I am contend- 
ing for the principle, that our friends must be 
rewarded. 

PoMPEY. Yes. But praetorian power. No. 
He must qualify. 

Lent. Before you reject him, will you not see 
him? Metellus and Domitius would not rec- 
ommend him without grave reason. I might 
say, without urgent reason. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 81 

PoMPEY. I want an imperative reason. 
Without that, it would be a gross act of fa- 
vouritism. And illegal. As for the results, we 
have seen such praetors. We should have a 
rising, and possibly a frontier war. No. Tudi- 
tanus cannot be praetor. 

Met. Remember, Magnus. Tuditanus is 
one of many. Others are in the same position. 
With a right to expect employment. 

PoMPEY. Peace will try their quality. 

There are men with Caesar with a right to 
expect employment. 

[The Generals look at each other and sigh, 

DoMi. There is another point. We are going 
back to Rome. Rome is in a rebellious, un- 
settled state. We must secure ourselves. 

I ask that every man of any standing in 
Rome be brought to trial, even if he have re- 
mained neutral. If the rebels have attacked 
authority, the neutrals have ignored it. And 



82 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

both must suffer. Rebellion must be stamped 
out. [Gives paper. 

The four hundred men in this list have 
actively helped the rebellion. There can be no 
question of trial for them. I ask that they be 
put to death. 

PoMPEY. That is out of the question. War 
will end when Caesar surrenders. I cannot 
allow reprisals. I want Rome settled. 

Lent. Perhaps you will explain how you plan 
to administer Rome. When we return. 

Met. [softly]. There will be an amnesty for 
offences conmaitted? 

PoMPEY. Yes. 

DoMi. You will pardon these rebels? 

PoMPEY. If they submit. 

Lent, [slowly]. Will you allow them to help 
in the reconstruction? 

PoMPEY [hotly]. Yes. Power is in too few 
hands. There must be a change in Rome. I 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 83 

would have these four hundred firebrands made 
Senators, to help us make the change wisely. 

Met. So. 

DoMi. Magnus. There is only one way of 
settling Rome. By showing her who is master 
in a way which she'll remember. 

Lent. Any dallying with these rebels will 
leave us where we were before. Hated, and 
flouted by the rabble, and in danger from it. 
Losing our privileges, one by one. Losing our 
possessions and our power. Magnus, I would 
ask you to weigh this proposal very care- 
fully. It affects the future of the patrician 
idea. 

PoMPEY. And of Rome. What kind of future 
do you expect from a massacre like this? I 
will tell you what you will get. You will drive 
these four hundred firebrands into the Prov- 
inces, where it will take five years of war to 
crush them. 



84 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

No. I'll go back with peace. Not a man 
shall be touched. 

Lent. Before we go back with peace, we 
must end the war. I have had letters from 
Rome. 

Popular voice in Rome says that we have 
feared to risk a battle. That the war drags on, 
when it could be ended in a day. 

That we dare not kill these representatives of 
the people. 

That is a dangerous spirit in a city which we 
are about to rule. That spirit can only be 
broken by decisive success. We must go back 
with victory. A battle is certain victory to 
ourselves. We ask you to give battle. 

Met. We have asked this before, without 
success. We ask it now, feeling it to be a grave 
need. Lentulus has mentioned it as a political 
expedient. I add to that this, that our treasury 
is nearly empty. We have no means of raising 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 85 

more money. We have drained Spain and 
Asia for years to come. And your inactive plan 
of campaign has killed our credit. We must 
fight. We cannot afford to keep the field for 
another month. 

PoMPEY. Csesar cannot keep the field for 
another week. 

DoMi. Caesar will drag on, day by day, till 
the corn is ripe. It is not many days now to 
harvest. You let his men get a full provision 
and you will see how long they will keep the 
field. I could break that impostor's strength 
with the horse alone. 

PoMPEY. I can break his strength without 
risking a life. I will not give battle. Be 
thankful that we can end such a war with so 
little bloodshed. [The Generals rise, 

DoMi. You are the oldest, Lentulus. 

Lent. It may lose us votes, remember. You 
are the most popular. 



86 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

Met. Perhaps I should do it. I am related. 

PoMPEY. What do you wish to say? 

Met. Magnus. I have to speak to you. 

You love power too well. 

Your command ends with the war. 

You have tried to prolong your command 
by neglecting to end the war. 

But the war is over. 

You plan now to retain command while you 
impose your will upon the State. That is a 
menace to the Republic. We have been forced 
to convoke the Senate to discuss it. 

The Senate has sanctioned the appointment 
of Tuditanus, and the list of the proscribed. 
It also commands that you give battle to 
Caesar. • 

[He gives a paper. 
[Pompey walks up stage slowly, then down. 
He stands at table, fronting them, 

Pompey. What do you expect me to say, 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 87 

Conscript Fathers? That I refuse to obey this 
order? 

I could refuse. 

If I were Caesar, or Lentulus. Or you, 
Domitius, or Metellus. I should refuse. 

And my soldiers, or Caesar's there, would work 
my will on a Senate which had so insulted 
me. 

But I am Pompey the Great. I am bound by 
my military oath. 

Do not think to humble me. Death is a Httle 
thing to the loss of conscience. 

Death is easier than life to me. 

But even if I die, Rome will be a prey to 
unscrupulous men. 

There is no hope for Rome. She ends here. 
Disaster begins. 

But for me, you would now be beggars at 
Caesar's doors. I saved Rome from Caesar. 

And now Rome is to beg her life from you. 



88 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

You have used Pompey the Great to ruin 
her. 

But you have first to fight for her. 

You shall give your sin a dignity, by risking 
your lives for it. [He strikes the gong. 

Enter an Aide. 

[To Aide.] Give the signal for battle. 

[Exit Aide. 

You have your will, now. 

This is the end. 

And at the end, think what it is which you 
destroy. 

Rome is nothing to you. Only the reward of 
greed, and hate, and pride. 

The city where justice was born. 

Look beyond your passions, at what Rome is. 
It is the state of Rome, not passion, which con- 
cerns us now. 

A little while ago she was a market-town. 



Act 11] POMPEY THE GREAT 89 

governed by farmers. Now she rules Europe. 
And in herself no change. Cramped still. 
Fettered. The same laws. The same rulers. 
Like iron on her heart. 

And forty years of civil war. All my life. 

A blind turbulent heaving towards freedom. 

[Without, a confused noise as of many men 

stirring from sleep. Shouted orders are 

clearly heard above the murmur. 

The Orders. Fall in. Dress. Cohort. By 

the right. Cohort, to the left, wheel. Eyes 

left. Cohort. Fifers, three paces to the 

Attention, etc., etc.. Cohort. Salute, etc. 

[In a momenfs silence a trumpet blows out- 
side the tent. Cheering. 
PoMPEY. Five minutes ago I had Rome's 
future in my hand. She was wax to my seal. 
I was going to free her. 

Now is the time to free her. You can tear 
the scales and the chains from her. You can 



90 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

make her a State so splendid that Athens would 
be a dust-heap to her. 

You will not. 

You will drive her back three centuries, so 
that you may wreak your passions on her. 

Go on, then. Destroy her. Or be destroyed. 

Whether you win or lose, Rome ends. 

[A pause. Orders without. 

Orders. The cohorts will advance in 

Cohort, halt. Ground arms. Attention. Form 
four deep. Attention. By the right. Quick 
march. Cohort. Cohort. To the left. Turn. 

DoMi. What orders have you? 

[For the next minute or two a noise of troops 
moving. 

PoMPEY. You have fought this battle many 
times in your hearts. [He flings the doors wide, 
showing a bright dawn.] Now you will fight it 
in earnest. You will fight the wild beasts whom 
I could have starved like beasts. 



Act II] POMPEY THE GREAT 91 

Go to your divisions. 

[The Generals go out silently, Pompey 
stands hy the table. 
Orders. Cohort. Halt. Ground arms. At- 
tention. Form four deep. Cohort. Left 
turn. 

Enter Philip. Pompey does not look at him. 
Fifes of a cohort pass, 

Philip. Do you want me, my lord? 

Pompey [turning]. Can you sing, Philip? 

Philip. Sing, my lord? 

Pompey. Yes. 

Philip. I don't know, my lord. 

Pompey. What was that song we had? That 
night. In the Asian wars. When we broke 
Mithridates? 

Philip [hesitating], I don't know whether I 
can, my lord. 

Pompey. Sing. 



92 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act II 

Philip. I'll try, my lord. [He repeats. 

Though we are ringed with spears, though the 
last hope is gone, 

Romans stand firm, the Roman dead look 
on. 

Before our sparks of life blow back to him who 
gave, 

Burn clear, brave hearts, and light our path- 
way to the grave. 

PoMPEY. Take my purple, Philip. 

[He flings his purple aside. 
A Centurion. Eyes left. Salute. 
A Cohort Passing. Haill Pompey. Im- 
perator. [Trumpets. 

Curtain. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 93 



ACT III 

The Poop of a Lesbian Merchantman of the First Century 

B.C. 
On each side, the bulwark of a ship, painted green. There 

are gaps, or gangways, in these bulwarks, so that people 

may go down the ship's side into boats. 
At back of stage, the poop-rail, also painted green. A 

wooden belfry with a bell stands upon the middle of the 

poop-rail. 
On each side of the bell is a ladder leading down to the main 

deck. Gaps in the poop-rail allow people to reach the 

poop by these ladders. 
Above the deck, sloping from amidships like a tent, is an 

awning of blue and white baftas. This awning has a flap, 

which falls at back of stage, hiding the poop from the 

main deck. On both sides of the stage the awning is 

secured by stops to guys above the ship's bulwarks. 
In the centre of the stage (if the theatre stage is so built) is 

a hatchway, surrounded by a raised white rim or coam-^ 

ing. This leads down to the cabins. 
Behind it is a mast (painted 'mast colour') which rises up 

through the awning. 
Round the mast is a square of timbers, like a stout fence. 



94 THE TRAGEDY OF [Ad III 

These are the Utts, to which the running rigging is be- 
layed. 

Stout ropes and blocks lead along the mast. 

Attendants, Sailors, etc., etc., keep always to the starboard 
side out of respect to Pompey, who uses the weather, or 
honourable side. 

At the rising of the curtain Captain is standing by poop- 
rail, looking at the men at work forward. The Boy holds 
up the awning so that he can see under it.] 



The Chantyman [heard off, amid a click of 
pawls]. Old Pompey lost Pharsalia fight. 

The Sailors. [Heaving at the forward cap- 
stan]. 

Mark well what I do say. 
The Chanty. 

Old Pompey lost Pharsalia fight. 
The Sailors. 

And Caesar now is the world's dehght. 
And I'll go no more a-roving, 
With Pompey the Great. 
A-roving. A-roving. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 95 

Since roving's been my ru-i-n, 
I'll go no more a-roving 
With Pompey the Great. 

The Mate [from far forward] . Avast heaving. 
Walk back. [Pause.] Unship your bars. 

The Captain. That'll do, boy. [Boy drops 
awning.] Now we're riding to a single anchor. 

The Boy. Yes, sir. 

The Capt. [kindly], D' you know what Httle 
port that is yonder? 

The Boy. No, sir. 

The Capt. That's Pelusium, in Egypt. This 
is the Nile. 

The Boy. Is this where the King of Egypt 
lives, sir? 

The Capt. [pointing]. Over yonder. Where 
all those soldiers are. That's where the King 
of Egypt is. Young King Ptolemy, who 
Pompey sent the letter to, after Caesar beat 
him. 



96 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

The Boy. Why does Pompey come to him, 
sir? He's only a boy. 

The Capt. It was through Pompey he be- 
came king. And there are lots of Pompey's old 
soldiers yonder. An army of them. 

The Boy. What a lot of ships, sir. 

The Capt, [anxiously], Ye-es. A lot of ships. 

The Boy. They must be men of war, sir. 
There's a bugle. Oh, look, sir, at those big 
galleys. Hark at the bugles. [Bugle-calls off.] 
Is that to call the slaves, sir? 

The Capt. [looking under the sharp of his 
hand]. Is that a boat putting off from the 
flagship? That big galley nearest to us? 

The Boy. Yes, sir. Don^t they pull well, sir? 
They're coming to us. 

The Capt. Quick. Get the red side-ropes 
rove. 

[The Boy reeves side-ropes, which he takes 
from locker by the gangway. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 97 

The Boy [at his work]. They're hailing us, sir. 

A Cry. Ship ahoy! Ahoy, you! 

TheCapt. Hulloh! 

A Cry. What ship is that? 

The Capt. The Fortune. From Cyprus. 

A Cry. Have you Lord Pompey aboard you? 

The Capt. Yes. Lord Pompey's aboard us. 
Down below. [Pause. 

The Boy. They seem to be talking together, 
sir. 

A Cry. When did you leave Cyprus? 

The Capt. [humbly]. At noon, sir, yesterday. 

[A pause. 

A Cry. D'ye hear there? You're not to 
send any boat ashore. 

The Capt. Ay, ay, my lord. 

The Boy. They're pulling back to the ship, 
sir. 

The Capt. [testily]. Quick. Dip our 
streamer. Dip our streamer, boy. Don't you 



98 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

know enough for that? [The Boy runs aft and 
dips the streamer.] Again. Now. Once more. 
Here. [He beckons.] Go below quietly, and see 
if Lord Pompey's stirring. [The Boy goes down 
the hatch. The Captain walks up and down, un- 
easily looking at the distant ships.] No. No. 
I don't like it. [He shakes his head.] I wish we 
were out of it. [Re-enter Boy.] Well, lad? 

The Boy. Yes, sir. Lord Pompey's up, sir. 

The Capt. Ah. [Kindly.] You'll be able 
to tell them, when you get home, that you were 
shipmates with Pompey the Great. 

The Boy. Yes, sir. 

The Capt. That's what comes of being a 
sailor. 

The Boy. Please, sir. 

The Capt. Yes, boy. 

The Boy. What is the name of that moun- 
tain, sir? 

The Capt. That? That's Mount Cassius. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 99 

There's a tale about that mountain. Some- 
thing about a king. Or some one to die there. 
I forget. Here. What are they doing aboard 
those galleys? 

The Boy. They are filling full of soldiers. 
Soldiers are putting off to them in boats. 

The Capt. [striking the hell once], Mr. Mate, 
there! 

The Mate [below, out of sight]. Sir. 

Enter Mate. 

The Capt. Oh, Mr. Mate. Here, boy. 
What are you Hstening at? Go forward. And 
if you want to see your mother again, you pray. 
Pray that King Ptolemy '11 let you. [Exit Boy. 

[The Captain speaks intently to the Mate.] 
Look here. We're done. Pompey isn't wanted 
here. Those eunuchs have put the King against 
him. See those galleys? They're getting ready 
to sink us. If you see one of them getting under 



100 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

way, cut the cable. Don't wait for orders. Cut 
the cable, and hoist sail. 

The Mate. I'll make all ready, sir. 

The Capt. It makes your blood boil, though. 
A week back they'd have crawled all round 
Pompey for a chance to kiss his footman's 
boots. Now they're going to drive him out. 

The Mate. Well, sir. You can't expect 
gratitude from a king, they say. The world's 
wide. There's other lands besides Egypt. 
Egypt's got trouble enough, without Pompey. 
What did he come here for? That's what I 
don't see. 

The Capt. He's had a misfortune. One 
doesn't know where to turn when one's had a 
misfortune. And having a wife and that. 
Very likely he's beside himself, for all he doesn't 
take on. 

The Mate. He'd ought to have come with his 
fleet. That would have frightened them. Com- 



Act 7/7] POMPEY THE GREAT 101 

ing alone like this makes people think he's a 
beggar. D^ you think they'll ram us? 

The Capt. I don't trust them. 

The Mate. The hands don't trust them, 
neither. 

The Capt. Ah! the growlers. What do they 
say? 

The Mate. They're saying they didn't sign 
on to be rammed. 

The Capt. They signed for what I choose. 

The Mate. Yes, sir. They're afraid of the 
soldiers and that. 

The Capt. They got sense. If I were Pom- 
pey, I'd run for it. A man with a wife like that 
didn't ought to seek trouble. Well. God send 
pay-day! Watch the hands and stand by. 
That's your job. 

The Mate. I'll make all clear, sir. Bosun, 
there ! 

Bosun [of]. Sir? 



102 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

The Mate. Overhaul your gear. Have all 
ready for getting under way. 

Bosun. Have all ready, sir. I will, sir. 

[Whistle, 

The Mate [going]. There^s his steward, sir. 

[ExiL 

The Capt. Steward. 

Philip [entering]. Sir. 

The Capt. Oh! steward. [Philip ap- 
proaches.] Look here, steward. What's Pom- 
pey's object in coming here? 

Philip. He's come to see the King. 

The Capt. Is he come to ask for shel- 
ter? 

Philip. He's come to raise another army out 
of all his old soldiers here. 

The Capt. He won't get any soldiers here. 
They're all at. the wars. The young King's 
fighting his sister. 

Philip. That will be patched up. The young 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 103 

King thinks the world of my master. He'll do 
what Pompey wants. 

The Capt. He hasn't answered Pompey's 
letter yet. 

Philip. No? 

The Capt. We've been told not to send a 
boat ashore. 

Philip. Well, all I know is, the young 
King longs to honour Pompey. But for Pom- 
pey the old King would have died a poor flute- 
player in Ephesus. You can see for yourself 
he's coming. There's his state barge at the 
jetty. Look. They're out on the roofs. 
There's music. 

Enter Pompey. 

The Capt. [unconvinced]. It may be as you 
say, steward. Ah. 

[He starts, salutes, and hastily crosses to the 
starboard, or lee side. 



104 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

Philip. My lord. Do you know what day it 
is, my lord? 

PoMPEY. What day is it? 

Philip. The day of your triumph, my lord. 
Your Asian triumph. Thirteen years ago. 

PoMPEY. Is it so long ago? That was a great 
day. 

Philip. Yes, indeed, my lord, I'll never 
forget that day. We always like to keep it up 
with a little something among ourselves. 

We brought you a few figs, my lord. They're 
only Cretans. [He offers figs.] Just in honour 
of the day, my lord. If you would accept of 
them. 

PoMPEY [taking and tasting]. Thank you, 
Philip. [To the Captain.] This old servant of 
mine is always bent on spoiling me. 

The Capt. Yes, my lord. So I see. 

Philip [going]. I'm sure I hope to-day will 
be a great day too, my lord. [Exit Philip. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 105 

PoMPEY. It should be, Philip. [He lays figs 
on weather fife-rail] Captain! 

The Capt. Yes, my lord. 

PoMPEY. Has any one come aboard for me? 

The Capt. No, my lord. 

PoMPEY. Thank you. 

The Capt. Beg pardon, my lord. 

POMPEY. Well? 

The Capt. The flagship has ordered us not to 
send a boat ashore. I thought I ought to report 
it, my lord. 

PoMPEY. Thank you. Captain. A fine fleet 
here. 

The Capt. [meaningly]. They seem to be 
getting their crews aboard. 

PoMPEY. What speed have those galleys? 

The Capt. Those there, my lord? They 

might make seventeen. That's with good 

rowers. And dead calm. And the ships new 

out of dock. In a wind like this, they wouldn't 



106 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

make moreen about eight. They can't work 
their oars in a sea-way. [Pause,] Now's the 
time, my lord, if you think of putting to sea. 
By and by, may be, they'll be able to stop 
us. 

PoMPEY. Thank you. Captain. 

The Capt. I'll report any boat, my lord. 

[Exit 

Enter Cornelia. 

Corn. Has the Elng sent? 
Pompey. No. 
Corn. No answer? 
Pompey. Not yet. 
Corn. Can he know we are here? 
Pompey. Yes. He will come. He will come 
in person. 
Corn. Why has he not come already? 
Pompey. It is early. 
Corn. Do you think it is safe to wait? It is 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 107 

ominous. This silence. And all those ships. 
And the people crowding on the roofs. What 
if the King be against us? 
PoMPEY. He cannot be. Do not be afraid. 

Enter Theophanes. 

Theophanes. Magnus. They have sent an 
order. We are not to send a boat ashore. They 
are plotting something. 

PoMPEY. If they were plotting, they would 
ask us to come ashore. 

Corn. But why should we not send a boat, if 
they are friendly? 

PoMPEY. The King will be coming in person. 
Then there was plague in Cyprus. We have not 
got a clean bill. 

Corn. But to be ordered. 

Theo. The Admiral should have come. 

PoMPEY. This is a merchantman. We are 
not under Roman colours. 



108 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

Corn. The Captain there is anxious. Look 
at him, 

Theo. Ask him. 

PoMPEY. It is necessary for the world that I 
see King Ptolemy. 

[The Captain flings down the halliard coil 
and goes below. 

Strange. Is there any Cassius with Ptolemy? 

Corn. Lucius Cassius is dead, surely. 

Theo. There's Quintus Cassius. But he is 
in Spain. 

Corn. Is there not Cneius Cassius? He was 
legate in one of Csesar's legions? 

PoMPEY. Cneius? I thought he was killed? 

Theo. I could find out. Sextus would know. 

PoMPEY. No. Do not wake him. It is 
absurd. 

Corn. Why do you ask? 

PoMPEY. When I was in Africa, at that time, 
an old woman bade me beware of Cassius. I 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 109 

have not thought of it for thirty-four years. An 
old black hag. Sitting in the sun, there. By 
the ruins of Carthage. Geminius was riding 
with me. She hobbled up on a crutch and 
plucked at my rein. 'Young captain. You 
beware of Cassius. You that ride so proud, 
beware of Cassius. The sand is falling.* 

Corn. Why should you think of that now? 

PoMPEY. Because I am going to victory, as I 
was then. [The Hands come aft. 

The Mate [following]. Get down off the 
poop. If you want anything, send a man 
aft. 

1st Hand. Begging your pardon, your hon- 
our. We want to speak. 

2nd Hand. We mean to speak. 

Srd Hand. We want to know why we're 
brought here. 

4th Hand. And how long we're to stay here. 

2nd Hand. He's been beaten. 



110 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

4th Hand. He^s got no friends. Our lives 
are as good to us as his is. 

The Mate. Down off the poop! Down with 
you! Bosun, there! [Struggling, 

PoMPEY. What is the matter? 

[Struggling ends. Pause, 

1st Hand. Begging your pardon, your hon- 
our. We wanted to see the Captain. 

PoMPEY [to the Mate]. What is their griev- 
ance? 

The Mate. Some more of their fancies, my 
lord. [To the Hands.] Get over to leeward. 

PoMPEY. They seem a good lot. What is 
it? 

The Mate. Oh, the Captain'll soon settle it, 
my lord. [To the Hands.] You wait. 

[Exit hy hatch to find Captain. Pause. 
Pompey takes a half turn, and then speaks. 

PoMPEY [to Hands]. Of what do you com- 
plain? 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 111 

1st Hand. Begging your pardon, your hon- 
our. We'd rather wait for the Captain. 

PoMPEY. What is wrong, though? Tell 
me. 

1st Hand. I'd rather not say, my lord. 

PoMPEY [takes a half turn, and speaks again]. 
Come. What is the trouble? Is it the food? 
Or the drink? 

1st Hand. Begging your pardon, your hon- 
our. We don't like the look of things. 

PoMPEY. What things? 

1st Hand. Begging your honour's pardon, 
the ships there. 

2nd Hand. They're getting ready to sink us. 

PoMPEY. Why do you think that? 

3rd Hand. You can see the soldiers going 
aboard them, can't you? 

1st Hand [to 3rd]. Here now. Here. 

3rd Hand [to 1st]. What's wrong? It's 
the truth. Isn't it? 



112 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

PoMPEY. So they are going aboard to sink us? 
Why should they sink us? 

3ed Hand. Because you're aboard us. [He 
stands out.] You're not wanted here. You're 
no good to Ptolemy. Caesar's the man, now, 
not you. You're no more than what we are. 

[To the Hands.] And we're to be drowned, 
are we, because his mightiness that was is worth 
more dead than alive? He's down. He's no 
one. He's had fellows die for him for forty 
years. It's time he learned what it feels like 
himself. 

4th Hand. That's what I say. 

3rd Hand. Come on! 

2nd Hand. Man the halliards. 

3rd Hand. We'll carry you to Csesar. And 
sell you. 

PoMPEY. Stand back! 

You say that the soldiers are coming to sink 
us? 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 113 

There are five thousand troops there, and 
fifty ships. 

Are they all coming to sink us? 

It seems a large force to sink one ship, 
manned by such a company. 

3rd Hand. Here. Look here! 

1st Hand [ [to 3rd]. You'll get us hanged. 

2nd Hand. Give him sheet. 

4th Hand. How about us? That's what 
I say. 

PoMPEY. If I am still so terrible, I must save 
you. I will go to the flagship yonder. Man 
your boat. 

3rd Hand. You will go to the flagship? 

1st Hand [alarmed]. Look at her. There. 

4th Hand. Look. 

2nd Hand. Look at her. She's got her oars 
out. 

1st Hand. She's coming. We're gone up. 

3rd Hand. Then he'll go first. 



114 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

1st Hand [holding him]. No, you don^t. 

Enter Captain. 

The Capt. She's coming, my lord. Shall I 
cut? We might do it, even now. 

PoMPEY. She is not coming. And if she were, 
what is death? 

The Capt. Hard times for the widow, my 
lord. 

PoMPEY [to the men]. Leave the ropes. 

Do you think the soul can be quenched with 
water? Or cut with swords? Or burned? 

3kd Hand. I know my body can, my lord. 

PoMPEY. You do well to fear death. Go to 
your place. ^ 

[Musingly.] If death can crush what com- 
prehends heaven? Why! We are in a bad 
way, Captain. 

[The Hands file off, quietly, Pompey looks 
down on the main deck. The Captain 



Ad III] POMPEY THE GREAT 115 

stands apart anxiously watching the flag- 
ship. Cornelia and Theophanes eye 
each other. 
Corn. Is the flagship coming? 
Theo. She is ready to come. 
Corn. To sink us? 
Theo. She could sink us. 
Corn. I cannot bear this. 

[PoMPEY turning, walks towards them. 
Theo. We ought to have gone to our fleet. 
We're helpless like this. 

Corn. Magnus. This isn't what we planned. 
PoMPEY. Let me reassiure you. Egypt is 

friendly to me. 

I saved her independence. I made the elder 
Ptolemy King. The young King is my ward, 
bound to me by intimate ties. Those troops 
are veterans of my Asian Army. 

Theo. The young King's at his wits* end with 
civil war. How can he begin a war with C^sar? 



116 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

PoMPEY. Caesar will begin a war with him 
whether he takes me or rejects me. Caesar 
wants Egypt, as Ptolemy very well knows. 

Corn, [bitterly]. And we are suppliants to 
him. We Romans. To whom they should 
strike their flags. [After a pause, quickly.] See 
if they refuse to salute us. 

Theo. We should know what to expect then. 

Corn. Oh, let us be certain. Hoist your 
colours. 

PoMPEY. It is not time yet. I will hoist 
them when the watch ends. 

[The Captain strikes the hell once. 

The Capt. One bell, my lord. 

PoMPEY. The watch is nearly out? 

The Capt. Nearly, my lord. Will you hoist 
any colours, my lord? 

PoMPEY. My consular colours. 

The Capt. I'm only a merchantman, my 
lord. If they should refuse to salute, my lord? 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 117 

PoMPEY. You will go alongside the flagship 
there, and order her to salute. 

The Capt. [going], I am all ready to get 
under way, my lord. Bosun, there! Stand by. 
Mr. Mate. Boy, there! 

[He goes to the break of the poop and looks 
down on main deck. 

Are your colours bent on, Centurion? 

Centurion [off]. Tell him, yes. 

Boy [off]. All ready to hoist, sir. 

The Capt. [coming to Pompey]. All ready, 
my lord. Will you make eight bells, my lord? 

Pompey. When it is time. 

[He paces leisurely, 

Theophanes. Have you your tables? 

Theo. Yes. 

Pompey. I shall want you to take notes. 

[To Cornelia.] What was that passage 
about the soul? We were reading it that day 
at Alba, when the women brought you their 



118 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

first-fruits? Our first year. We were in the 
garden. You were reading to me. There was 
a verse about the soul. 

Corn. The upright soul is safe? 
PoMPEY. Yes. That was the verse. I have 
always loved Alba. I was there as a child. We 
were happy there, that year. 

Corn. Very happy. And that day. The 
doves came, picking the spilled grain. And at 
night there was a moon. 

PoMPEY. All the quiet valley. And the owls 
were calling. Those little grey owls. Make 
eight bells. Captain. 

[The Captain makes it. The Bosun pipes 
the colours up. 
The Capt. Not so fast there, boy. 

[Eight hells is echoed over the harbour from 
ship to ship. PoMPEY and Theophanes 
raise their right hands. Perhaps Cor- 
nelia ought to veil. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 119 

Theo. The flagship is hoisting her ensign. 

[Bugles off. 

Corn. Will she salute? Will she salute? 
There. 

Theo. There. She dips it. 

Corn. They all salute. 

Theo. Then we are safe. 

PoMPEY. That is settled, then. I am to be 
received. The King expects me. 

TheCapt. I beg pardon, my lord. I think his 
Maj esty the King is coming off to fetch you. The 
barge is putting off, my lord. [Approaching.] No, 
my lord; it is not the King, it is one of the pearl- 
boats, my lord, which work the pearl-beds here. 

PoMPEY. Something of the kind. What do 
you make of her? 

The Capt. They pull very badly, my lord. 
They pull like soldiers. 

PoMPEY. They are soldiers. I see the gleam 
of armour. 



120 THE TRAGEDY OF [Ad III 

Theo. Seven soldiers. 

The Capt. Am I to let them alongside, my 
lord? 

PoMPEY. Wait. 

Theo. Has he sent a boat like that for 
you? 

Corn. You cannot go in that old boat. 

Theo. Magnus. There is some treachery. 

Corn. Cneius. It is a dreadful risk. To 
stay. 

Pompey. It is necessary. I must carry this 
thing through. You would rather I ran the risk 
than let the world become — what it will become. 

Corn. Much rather. 

Pompey. You will understand, then. 

The Capt. They are hailing, my lord. 
Would the lady go below a little? They might 
fling a dart on board. 

Corn. The air is fresher here. 

Septimius [off]. Hail! Pompey. Imperator. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 121 

The Capt. We could still run for it, my lord. 
PoMPEY. We must not show that we mis- 
trust them. 

Sept. [off]. Hail, Pompey, Imperator! 
PoMPEY. Have your men ready to salute. 
Sept. [off]. In bow. 
Corn. Cneius. Cneius. 
Pompey. There is no danger. Have you the 
little book with my speech to Ptolemy? 
Corn. Here it is. 

Sept. [off]. Toss your starboard oars. Way 
enough. 

Pompey. Company there. Salute. 
The Capt. The call, there. 

Enter Septimius, a Roman military tribune^ with 
Achillas Egyptian, both in military dress. 
The Bosun pipes the side for each of them. 

Pompey [advancing]. You come from King 
Ptolemy? [Septimius salutes, Achillas bows. 



122 THE TRAGEDY OF [ Act III 

Achillas. From King Ptolemy. He send 
you royal greeting. 

PoMPEY. He wishes to see me? 

AcHiL. He wish to see you. To be your 
friend. 

PoMPEY. Shall I bring the ship alongside the 
quay there? 

AcHiL. There is much mud and sandbanks. 
There would be no water for this galley. You 
have to take a boat. 

PoMPEY [glancing at ships]. Your fleet is 
getting under way here? 

AcHiL. [shrugging his shoulders]. Ah? Will 
you come into my boat? 

PoMPEY. She is not a very handsome 
boat. 

AcHiL. No? It is bad weather sometimes. 

PoMPEY [to Septimius]. I think I should 
know you, my friend. You and I have served 
together? [Septimius nods, hut does not answer. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 123 

Where was it? I know your face. 

[No answer, 

A long time ago. Eighteen years ago. In 
the war against the phates? [Pause,] Was it 
^^^^ [No answer. 

You commanded a company in my guard. 
[Pause.] You did something? You burnt a 
ship one night? You paddled out alone and 
set fire to her? I remember you. I gave you 
a sword. You are wearing it now. 

Sept. [turning to the boat, muttering to him- 
self]. I'm as good a man as you are. 

AcHiL. You come in my httle boat. I take 
you to the King. The King is your friend. 
Lovely lady, the King want to see him. 
Corn. Yes. 
PoMPEY. I will follow you. Go down into 

the boat. 

[Achillas, bowing, goes to gangway, where 
he stands^ looking aft. 



124 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

POMPEY. Now. 

Theo. Magnus. You mustn't go. 

Corn. Cneius. Cneius. What do they 
mean? 

Theo. You mustn't go, Magnus. 

PoMPEY. My beloved! You must stay here. 
You must not come. 

Corn. My darling! What are they going to 
do? 

PoMPEY. What God wills. 

Theophanes. If this is the end, I wish it to 
be the end. Those arrangements of the fleet. 
Cancel them. You understand. Go to Cato. 
Tell Cato to submit to Caesar. War will only 
mean more bloodshed. He cannot stand against 
Csesar. I could have. 

Scipio's daughter. Make your father submit 
to Caesar. Keep my sons out of it. Tell them. 
End the war. Life is very grand, but there is 
something behind it. Something which strikes 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 125 

a mean. I had my hand on it. Come. Cour- 
age. These are Egyptians. [To Cornelia.] 

Captain. You must sail. Stand by. 

What else is there? Asia. Theophanes. 
Asia must submit. Send to the Kings. The 
world must make what terms it can. This 
is all in the event. If this is the end. 
You understand? If not, you know my 
orders. 

Philip. Scythes. Cotta. Go down into the 
boat. 

Philip. My lord. I've served you a long 
time, my lord. 

PoMPEY. What is it, Philip? 

[Cotta and Scythes go. 

Philip. My lord. My old, beloved lord. 

PoMPEY. Why, Philip. We are the only ones 
left. We are two old Sulla's men. Have you 
my cloak in the boat? 

Philip. Forty years, my lord. 



126 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

PoMPEY. The broidered one. [To Cornelia.] 
Your gift. Come. Carry it down, man. 
Philip. I wish it was to begin all over again. 

[Exit. 
AcHiL. Will you come into the boat? The 
King is waiting. 

Corn. Cneius. My husband. My husband. 
PoMPEY. God only lends us. 
If the King keep faith. We shall have time. 
Time for what we must imagine. If not. We 
know our love. The gods treasure you. 

[He goes towards gangway. 
Remember, Captain. 

Theophanes. If I fail, you must warn 
Lentulus. 

[He goes to gangway. The Bosun starts to 

pipe the side. Pompey turns to the Boy. 

Bosun stops his pipe. Pompey takes figs 

from fife-rail and gives them to the Boy. 

Can you eat figs? [The Boy mumbles. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 127 

What is your name? 

[The Boy hursts into tears. 
AcHiL. [at gangway]. Give me your hand. I 
take your hand down. 

PoMPEY [pausing in the gangway and looking 
back. Sadly. To Theophanes.] 

^ Into a tyrant's court the truly brave 
Goes proudly, though he go to die a slave.' 
[He goes down. The Bosun pipes the side. 
Sept. [coldly]. Back your port oars. Shove 
off. Give way together. 

The Capt. [softly to Mate]. Go on there. 
Man your halliards. 

The Mate. Take the turns off. Stretch it 
along. Softly now. Stand by. 

[The Seamen coming behind Cornelia, man 
the halliards. The Chantyman stands on 
the bitts. All look after the boat. 
The Chanty. There's a lot of troops ashore. 
The Mate. SVt. 



128 THE TRAGEDY OF [Ad III 

Corn. They are not talking to him. 

Theo. He is reading his speech. [Pause.] 
He organises everything. Caesar improvises. 

Corn. There they go out of the sun. 

Theo. The hill casts a long shadow. 

Corn. What is the name of the hill? 

The Capt. Mount Cassius, lady. 

Theo. [quickly]. They are coming with ban- 
ners. Look. 

Corn. He is safe. 

Theo. There comes the King. Hark! Trum- 
pets. They^re saluting. He is standing up to 
land. 

Corn. Ah! Swords. He is stabbed. 

Theo. Ah! you gods. You gods! 

Corn. Oh! He is killed! He is killed! He 
is killed! [She collapses. 

Theo. [covering Ms eyes]. The devils! The 
devils! 

The Mate. They stabbed him in the back. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 129 

Antistia. It's ebb-tide now, my beauty. 

The Capt. [yelling]. Cut the cable. 

[Chopping forward, 

A Voice. All gone, the cable. 

The Mate. Let fall. 

A Voice. All gone. 

The Mate. Sheet home. Hoist away. 

The Men. Ho. [They haul. 

The Chanty. Away ho! [The Men haul, 
[He intones in a clear loud voice. The Sea- 
men sing the chorus, hauling, 
[This song is sung like an ordinary halliard 
chanty. The chorus is to the tune of the 
old chanty of 'Hanging Johnny,^ The 
solo will he intoned clearly, without tune. 
It goes to fast time, the chorus starting 
almost before the soloist ends his line. The 
Men must haul twice, in the proper man- 
ner, in each chorus. The hauling will have 
for natural accompaniments the whine of 



130 THE TRAGEDY OF [Act III 

the three-sheaved block ^ the grunt of the 
parrels and the slat from the great sail. 
The Chanty. 
Kneel to the beautiful women who bear us 

this strange brave fruit. 
The Men. Away, i-oh. 
The Chanty. 
Man with his soul so noble: man half god 

and half brute. 
The Men. So away, i-oh. 
The Chanty. 
Women bear him in pain that he may bring 

them tears. 
Chorus. 
The Chanty. 
He is a king on earth, he rules for a term of 

years. 
Chorus. 
The Chanty. 
And the conqueror's prize is dust and lost 

endeavour. 



Act III] POMPEY THE GREAT 131 

Chorus. 

The Chanty. 

And the beaten man becomes a story for ever. 

Chorus. 

The Chanty. 

For the gods employ strange means to bring 

then* will to be. 
Chorus. 
The Chanty. 
We are in the wise gods' hands and more we 

cannot see. 
Chorus. Soaway, i-oh. 
A Voice. High enough. 
The Mate. Lie to. [The Seamen lay to the 

fall] Make fast. 
Coil up. 

A Voice. All clear to seaward. 
The Capt. Pipe down. 

[The Bosun pipes the belay. 
Curtain. 



132 THE TRAGEDY OF 

Epilogue spoken by Cotta. 

Pompey was a great Captain, riding among 
Kings, a King, 

Now he lies dead on the sand, an old blind tum- 
bled thing 

Fate has her secret way to hmnble captains 
thus 

Fate comes to every one and takes the light 
from us 

And the beginning and the end are darkened 
waters where no lights be 

But after many days the brook finds ocean 

And the ship puts to sea. 



POMPEY THE GREAT ■ 133 



NOTES 

ON THE APPEARANCE OF POMPEY 

Portraits exist of Cneius Pompeius Magnus. The most 
important of these is a marble bust at Copenhagen. 
Several likenesses are to be found on the gold and silver 
coins struck by his son, Sextus, in Spain. Plutarch says of 
him that, 'being come to man's state, there appeared in his 
gesture and behaviour a grave and princely majesty. His 
hair also stood a little upright, and the cast and soft moving 
of his eyes had a certain resemblance (as they said) of the 
statues and images of Alexander the Great.' This resem- 
blance may still be traced. 

At the time of liis murder he was fifty-eight years old, a 
powerful, very active man, in the prime of life. His bust, 
evidently done towards the end of his life, shows that his 
hair, which was thick, coarse, and worn rather long, still 
tended to stand a little upright. The head is of great 
breadth at the eyes. The brow is low and Hned with three 
deep lines of wrinkles going right across it in irregular M 
shape. The eyebrows are well marked: the supra-orbital 
ridge is heavy. The nose is full and strong, with the broad 
base which is so good an index of intellectual power. The 



134 THE TRAGEDY OF 

septum is of great breadth. The mouth is of that kindly- 
tightness which one sees in the portraits of some of our 
Admirals. Below the mouth is a deep horizontal dent. 
The chin is not cloven. The face is lined a good deal. A 
deep straight wrinkle runs from each side of the nose 
to the puckered angles of the mouth. The eyes are crows- 
footed. There are no indications as to the colour of the 
hair and eyes. The shape of the head suggests the brown 
or fair type of man. At the time of his death he was 
perhaps grizzled. 

No known portrait exists of any of the other characters. 
Metellus came of a family once distinguished for pointed 
noses, Domitius of a family once famed for red hair. 
Cornelia was famous for a grave and gentle beauty. She 
was young, though already a widow, when Pompey married 
her, a few months before the civil trouble began. 

ON THE FATE OF THE PERSONS IN THIS 
TRAGEDY. 

Philip, After rehgiously burning his master's body on 
the seashore, disappears from history. 

Metellus Scipio, Fled from Pharsaha to Africa, where he 
carried on the war until 46 b. c, when he was defeated by 
Caesar at Thapsus. Flying from Africa by sea, in bad 
weather, he was forced to put into the port of Hippo, where 



POMPEY THE GREAT 135 

one of Caesar's fleets lay at anchor. A battle followed. He 
is said to have drowned himself shortly before his ship was 
sunk. 

Cn. Pompeius Theophanes. Returned to Italy, and was 
pardoned by Caesar. He attained great fame as a writer. 
After his death the Lesbians paid him divine honours. 
His son held office under Augustus. 

Marcus Cato. After PharsaUa, joined Scipio in Africa, 
and held command under him. He killed himself in Utica, 
shortly after the battle of Thapsus, so that he might not 
live to see the final extinction of Hberty. His son was 
killed at Philippi, 'vahantly fighting against Augustus,' 
four years later. 

Lucius Domitius Ahenoharhus. Was killed (some say by 
Mark Antony) either in the battle, or in the rout, of 
Pharsalia, at which he commanded the great brigade of 
horse, on the left of Pompey's army. 

Marcus Acilius Glabrio. Continued in Caesar's service, 
and rose to be governor of Achaia. 

Lucius Lucceius. Returned to Rome, and received 
Cesar's pardon. He was praised by Cicero for the excel- 
lence of his historical writings. 

Lucius Afranius. After Pharsalia, joined Scipio in 
Africa, and held command under him, till the battle of 
Thapsus. While riding through Mauretania, on his way 
to Spain, after that disaster, he was ambushed and taken 



136 THE TRAGEDY OF 

by Caesar's lieutenant, P. Sitius. A few days later, the 
troops of Sitius killed him in a camp riot. 

Lentulus Spinther. After Pharsalia, fled to Rhodes, 
where he was refused permission to land. He set sail again 
*much against his will,' and either 'perished ingloriously' 
or disappeared from history. 

Achillas Egyptian. Was killed by Arsinoe (Ptolemy's 
sister) and the eunuch Ganymed in the year after Pom- 
pey's murder. 

ON THE HOUSE OF POMPEY, AFTER THE 
MURDER. 

Cornelia. After seeing her husband killed, fled to Cyrene, 
and thence to Rome, where, in time, Pompey's ashes were 
brought to her. She is said to have buried them ' in a town 
of hers by the city of Alba,' in Liguria. 

Cn. Pompeius Magnus, the Triumvir's eldest son, by his 
third wife, Mucia, held Corcyra for a time, showing courage 
and bold strategic ideas. On hearing of his father's death, 
he went to Spain, where he raised a great army. He was 
defeated at the bloody battle of Munda, in the year 45. 
Soon after the battle, he was betrayed, taken and killed. 
His head was carried to Seville and exposed there to the 
public gaze. 

Sextus Pompeius Magnus. The younger son (also by 
Mucia) continued the war in Africa, with Cato's party, till 



POMPEY THE GREAT 137 

after the battle of Thapsus. He then joined his brother in 
Spain. After Caesar's murder, he was proscribed by 
Octavian, and took the seas, with a fleet, burning, sinking 
and intercepting commerce, till Octavian came to terms. 
On the recommencement of war between them, his fleet 
was beaten by Octavian's fleet under Agrippa. After try- 
ing vainly to beat up a force in Asia, he was taken and put 
to death at Miletus (probably by the order of Mark 
Antony) in the year 35. He left a daughter whose fate is 
uncertain. She was with him in Asia in 36. 

Pompeia. The daughter (also by Mucia) married 
Faustus, the son of Sulla, who was killed with Afranius in 
the mutiny of the troops of P. Sitius, in Africa in 46. She 
afterwards married L. Cornelius Cinna. It is not known 
when she died; but it is certain that she predeceased her 
brother, Sextus. She had a son by CorneHus Cinna, who 
came to be Consul in a. d. 5. What became of her children 
by Faustus is not known. 



And all their passionate hearts are dust, 
And dust the great idea that burned 
In various flames of love and lust 
Till the world's brain was turned. 

God, moving darkly in men's brains, 
Using their passions as his tool. 
Brings freedom with a tyrant's chains 
And wisdom with the fool. 

Blindly and bloodily we drift. 

Our interests clog our hearts with dreams. 

God make my brooding soul a rift 

Through which a meaning gleams. 

Feb. 8, 1908. July 5, 1909, 



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